Results are reported from a search for non-standard-model Higgs boson decays to pairs of new light bosons, each of which decays into the final state. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.65 \fbinv of proton-proton collisions at ~TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2012. One event is observed after analysis selection requirements were applied. A model-independent upper limit on the product of the cross section times branching fraction times acceptance is derived. The results are applicable to a broad spectrum of new physics scenarios and are also compared with the predictions of two benchmark models, NMSSM and dark SUSY, as functions of a Higgs boson mass larger than 86\GeVcc and of a new light boson mass within the range 0.25--3.55\GeVcc.