The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that any form of sexual intercourse, including unnatural acts, by a man with his legally wedded adult wife cannot be classified as an offense, even if done without her consent. The verdict was given while acquitting a Jagdalpur resident who had been convicted by a trial court in Bastar district on charges of rape, unnatural sex, and culpable homicide after his wife’s death.
Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas, who presided over the case, highlighted that under the amended Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a husband’s sexual act with his wife is not considered rape unless she is under 15 years old. Consequently, the absence of consent from the wife for unnatural acts was deemed legally insignificant.
The case stemmed from a complaint lodged in December 2017 when the wife, before her death, informed her family that her husband had forced unnatural sex upon her. A magistrate recorded her dying declaration, where she linked her illness to non-consensual sexual acts by her husband. Subsequently, the trial court sentenced the accused to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under IPC Sections 376, 377, and 304.
The accused appealed to the High Court, arguing that there was no concrete evidence beyond his wife’s statement. His defense claimed she had a medical history of piles, which could have caused her pain and bleeding. The trial court’s reliance on the dying declaration was questioned, with the defense asserting inconsistencies in medical evidence.
The High Court, while reviewing the legal provisions, noted that Section 375 of the IPC explicitly exempts a husband from being charged with rape for intercourse with his wife. It also referenced the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Navtej Singh Johar case, which decriminalized consensual unnatural sex but did not alter the legal standing of marital sexual relations. Since Section 377 does not define the offender separately and is overridden by the marital exception in Section 375, the High Court ruled that unnatural sex within marriage is not a punishable offense under current laws.
The court also deemed the trial court’s decision to convict the man under IPC Section 304 as flawed, stating that the prosecution failed to establish a direct link between the accused’s actions and the victim’s death. Consequently, all charges against the accused were dismissed, and the court ordered his immediate release.
This ruling has sparked discussions about India’s marital rape laws, with critics arguing that the legal system continues to deny wives the right to bodily autonomy and protection against non-consensual acts within marriage.
