About 21 per cent children in the country are sexually harassed by being kissed forcibly by their loved ones, according to a report of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The report said in majority of the cases, the children were in the age group of 5-12 years.

"About 44.98 per cent of boys and and 55.02 per cent of girls undergo the trauma of sexual harassment by being kissed without their will," it said.

Ironically, in 31.5 per cent of these cases, the assailants are either family members, neighbours or friends.

"Twenty-one per cent of these cases occur at home, while 18.50 per cent cases are reported from schools," the report said.

The report found that the highest 56 per cent of cases of forcible kissing were reported from Bihar, followed by 53 per cent from Maharashtra and 50 per cent from Uttar Pradesh.

Younger children were found to be more vulnerable as the highest 41.17 per cent cases involved children below 12 years of age, followed by 25.73 per cent between 13 and 14 years and 33.10 between 15 and 18 years.

According to child psychologists, kissing a child forcibly can be really harmful as it can affect the child's mental and psychological development.