The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that sexual intercourse with a wife younger than 18 constitutes rape, even if consensual. Justice G.A. Sanap upheld a 10-year prison sentence handed to a man by a trial court, citing a Supreme Court precedent in Independent Thought v. Union of India.
The ruling clarified that the marital rape exception under the Indian Penal Code does not apply to minors.
“In view of the law laid down by the Apex Court, intercourse by the appellant with the victim being his wife would not constitute rape or penetrative sexual assault, cannot be accepted. It needs to be stated that the sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape regardless of whether she is married or not…The defence of consensual sex with the wife is not available when the age of the wife or the girl, who is alleged to be the wife, is below 18 years of age,” Justice Sanap observed, Bar and Bench reported.
Case background
The case dates to 2019, involving a minor who had been in a relationship with the accused for several years. As their relationship progressed, the girl rented a room in Wardha to support her family, where the accused regularly visited. The court heard that the man pressured her into sexual intercourse by promising marriage.
The situation escalated when the girl became pregnant. The accused arranged a makeshift marriage ceremony in a rented room, which the victim later described as a sham. Following the ceremony, the man urged her to have an abortion and denied paternity, claiming she had conceived with another man.
Months later, the girl reported the case to police, leading to the man’s arrest and subsequent trial.
Defense arguments rejected
During cross-examination, the victim admitted she had referred to the accused as her husband to officials and submitted photos of the two garlanding each other. Based on this, the defense argued the sexual relationship was consensual.
The court rejected the argument, stating that the victim’s age at the time of the offense rendered any consent irrelevant. “Even if it is assumed for the sake of argument that there was so-called marriage between them, in view of the allegations made by the victim that it was sexual intercourse against her consent, it would constitute rape.” Justice Sanap said.
The ruling reinforces the legal position that marital status or consent cannot override statutory protections for minors under the law.