The Chhattisgarh High Court recently quashed charges of rape against a man by his wife, saying that marital rape was not an offence under the Indian law, Bar and Bench reported on Thursday.
In his judgement on August 23, Justice NK Chandravanshi cited an exception in the Indian Penal Code Section 375, which notes that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife does not amount to rape as long as the woman is above the age of 15. Section 375 defines the offence of rape.
“In this case, complainant is [the] legally wedded wife...therefore, sexual intercourse or any sexual act with her by the...husband would not constitute an offence of rape, even if it was by force or against her wish,” the judge said in his order.
However, the court upheld charges against the husband under Indian Penal Code Sections 498A (cruelty against women) and 377 (unnatural offences, carnal intercourse against the “order of nature”). The man’s family members have also been charged under Section 498A of the IPC.
The woman had complained that her husband and the woman’s in-laws had harassed her for dowry and beaten her up after the couple got married.
She also alleged that the husband had unnatural sex with her, and had forcibly penetrated her vagina.
The court was hearing a revision plea moved by the husband and his family. The petition challenged a sessions court order, which had framed several charges, including rape.
The court upheld the charges under Section 377 of the IPC.
“...Where dominant intention of the offender is to derive unnatural sexual satisfaction, repeatedly insert any object in the sex organ of the victim and consequently derives sexual pleasure, such act would constitute as a carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” the court said, according to Bar and Bench.
Indian laws do not recognise marital rape as a crime, but some recent judgements have tried to provide relief to complainants.
Earlier this month, the Kerala High Court had observed that marital rape was a valid reason to seek divorce. The court had noted that in modern social jurisprudence, a husband cannot claim supremacy on the body or individual status of the wife.
In a judgement in July, the Delhi High Court had said that marriage did not mean a woman was obliged to have a physical relationship with her husband. The court also said that physical force is not necessary to constitute the offence of rape.
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