The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently made significant observations regarding the legal status of marital rape in India. The court emphasized that under current Indian law, including the absence of recognition of ‘Marital rape’ as an offense, sexual intercourse, including unnatural sex, by a man with his wife does not amount to rape. This ruling asserts that the consent of the wife becomes irrelevant in such cases.
Justice Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia, presiding over the case, clarified that any sexual intercourse or sexual act by a man with his wife, provided she is not below the age of fifteen and the marriage is valid, does not constitute rape. The only exception to this is outlined in Section 376-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which considers sexual acts with a wife during separate living conditions, such as judicial separation, as rape.
Referring to Exception 2 of Section 375 IPC, the court reiterated that sexual acts between a husband and wife, with the wife being over fifteen years of age, do not amount to rape. This ruling came in response to the quashing of an FIR filed by a wife against her husband, alleging unnatural offenses under Section 377 IPC.
Section 375 of the IPC defines rape to include all forms of non-consensual sexual assault against women. However, Exception 2 excludes consensual sexual intercourse between a husband and wife over the age of fifteen from the definition of rape.
It’s worth noting that in October 2017, the Supreme Court, in the case of Independent Thought vs. Union of India, amended Exception 2 to Section 375 IPC, raising the age from fifteen to eighteen to include sex with a minor wife within the scope of rape.
The case in question involved a wife lodging an FIR against her husband, alleging multiple instances of unnatural sexual intercourse. The husband challenged the FIR, arguing that as spouses, their sexual acts were not punishable under Section 377 IPC.
The High Court, in its observations, pointed out that while Section 375(a) of the IPC considers certain penetrative acts as rape, Exception 2 excludes consensual sexual acts between spouses. The court also cited a previous ruling by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which stated that after the 2013 amendment to Section 375 IPC, there is no room for unnatural offenses between spouses.
Consequently, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled that unnatural sexual acts between a husband and his legally wedded wife do not constitute an offense under Section 377 IPC, and thus, the FIR against the husband was quashed.
