The bench, led by Justice G.A. Sanap, emphasized that the age of consent is 18 years or older.
Consensual sex with a minor wife constitutes rape, and any attempt to legally justify such actions will not be tolerated by the law, the Bombay High Court has ruled. The Nagpur division of the High Court made this observation while delivering its judgment in a case involving a man accused of raping his wife. The court sentenced the man to 10 years in prison. The bench, led by Justice G.A. Sanap, emphasized that the age of consent is 18 years or older. “It must be stated that sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is considered rape, regardless of whether she is married or not,” Justice Sanap stated.
The defence of consensual sex is not available in the law when the age of the wife is below 18 years, the High Court said.
The accused man was sentenced to a 10-year sentence of rigorous imprisonment.
From the details gathered, the man had forced intimate relations with the woman, resulting in her becoming pregnant. In time, they did wed. But life as a couple proved quite trying, and it brought the woman to a point where she felt compelled to file charges against her husband.
“Even if it is assumed for the sake of argument that there was a 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,” the High Court said.
The accused was the victim’s neighbour when she used to reside with her father, sisters and grandmother in Wardha.
The person accused and the survivor used to be lovers for around three to four years before she made a formal complaint in 2019. During this period, she recurrently turned down his advances for physical closeness. With her family undergoing financial strain, she had to move to a neighbouring town for a job. He followed her there, helped her commute to work, and eventually coerced her into a sexual relationship, which ultimately resulted in her pregnancy.
The accused promised to marry the victim and held a “farce marriage” ceremony in a rented room. Later, the man’s behaviour changed for the woman and turned abusive. He started pressurising her to undergo an abortion, denying paternity. The man accused the victim’ of having a child with another man.
The survivor went to a nearby police station and filed a complaint in May 2019, leading to the accused’s arrest.
In his defence, the accused claimed the sexual relationship between him and the victim was consensual and she was his wife.
“In my view, this submission cannot be accepted for more than one reason. In this case, the prosecution has proved that the victim on the date of commission of the crime was below 18 years of age,” Justice Sanap said.
The DNA report also confirmed that the accused man and the victim are the biological parents of the child.