Sex even with ‘minor’ wife is rape

The Bombay High Court has ruled that consensual sex with a minor wife constitutes rape, and the legal defence for such an act cannot be accepted under the law. The Nagpur Bench of the High Court made this observation while upholding a 10-year sentence for a man against whom his wife had lodged a rape complaint.

Specifying that the age of consent is above 18-years-old, a bench of justice GA Sanap said, "It needs to be stated that sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape, regardless of whether she is married or not”.

The man, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the sessions court, claimed since the victim was his wife, their sexual relationship cannot be termed as rape. The high court, however, said the defence of consensual sex with the wife cannot be taken when the age of the wife is below 18 years.

The woman, in her complaint lodged in 2019, said she was in a relationship with the man and that, despite her refusal, he raped and impregnated her. The duo then lived together and got married. However, the man insisted on an abortion. She alleged that the man made a farce of the marriage and repeatedly raped and physically assaulted her.

The court noted that the woman gave birth to a baby boy, and as per the DNA analysis, the accused and her were the biological parents.

The man, in his appeal, claimed innocence and said the complainant was his wife and hence, their physical relation cannot be termed as rape and that it was consensual. He also claimed that the woman was not a minor at the time of the alleged incident.

The court, however, refused to accept this contention. It noted that as per documentary evidence, the complainant was born in 2002 and was a minor in 2019 when the alleged incident occurred.