I'm not sure that 16 is the right age. I think 16 year olds don't have sufficient life experience to make judgements on such matters. But on the other hand, you have to balance that against the principle of freedom of choice and expression. The question of how would that apply to persons with mental disabilities is one that I'm not qualified to answer, but I think there might be people who could. Id like to see the age of legal sexual consent and majority to be the same and it's one very big question as to what that age should be. I'd rather see the age of sexual consent raised to 18 than majority lowered to 16. The question of sexual consent between minors is another matter and another very tricky one. Does anyone else have any views on those questions? And I'm not going to get into debate with theists on this. I want to hear from other atheists.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I hold the view myself that law cannot be valid unless it applies to everyone, therefore there can be no exceptions. The seduction of a minor by an adult should be regarded as rape, even where the minor appears to consent because the law should state that a minor cannot give consent. As to the question of sexual contact between minors, the realistic view is that this is going to happen. So the question then becomes, can we regard such contact as rape? My answer is no, because neither of them can legally give consent. That doesn't mean that what they've done is right, of course. Maybe we could reduce those instances through honest and open sex and relationship education?

There is another point too, that's worth thinking about. There's no reason I can think of why minors should not have a loving and affectionate relationship with each other, so long as that doesn't involve penetrative sex, because, quite apart from the psychological damage that might be caused by non-consensual sex at any age, the greatest danger is the possible birth of unwanted children, or children with whom the biological parents are simply not equipped to cope.

I'm from the US, but from what I've read on this topic, I believe the Indian laws are difficult to enforce in rural areas. Not sure if there is just too few police to monitor and enforce the laws there, or if it's kind of like the US 'good ole boys' where the law breaking is just overlooked. I've read also that many times the rural folks lie to police about whether a minor is actually married or not, in instances when the law does question things.

Will be interested to hear PW's thoughts.