In its recent ruling, the Madhya Pradesh High Court stated that a husband having unnatural intercourse with his wife doesn’t qualify as rape because Indian law doesn’t acknowledge marital rape, making her consent inconsequential in such situations.
The Case
In 2019, a couple got married. Later, the wife left her matrimonial residence, as she alleged that the husband and her in-laws used to engage in “physical and mental harassment for not fulfilling the dowry demand,” and hence she returned to her home.
She alleged that her husband blackmailed her and threatened to reveal to her mother that his husband had committed “unnatural sex” on her on multiple occasions, and hence she lodged a FIR against her husband. The woman stated in the FIR that she had several instances of unnatural intercourse with her husband after they were married, which occurred in June 2019, when she visited their marital home for the second time.
Subsequently, the spouse petitioned the Madhya Pradesh High Court to quash the FIR. He contested that any occurrence of unnatural sex between him and his wife would not constitute a crime
The Court’s Ruling
The single bench headed by Justice Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia held that since marital rape is not recognized by Indian law, a husband engaging in unnatural intercourse with his wife does not constitute rape, and her consent is not essential in these situations.
After the amendment of the definition of “Rape” as mentioned in the section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, the revised definition of “rape” under Section 375 of the IPC, now includes the insertion of a woman’s penis into her anus as well as any sexual act or sexual contact. But any sexual act between a husband and wife that occurs when the wife is not younger than fifteen, the significance of the wife’s lack of consent is immaterial as the Indian Law has not recognized Marital rape as a crime.
The only exception to this rule is found in IPC section 376(B), where the court stated that a sexual act with the wife can take place if they are living apart due to a judicial separation. Citing the above reasons the FIR registered against the husband was quashed.
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