Forced sex with minor wife not criminal act: Govt defends rape law to protect marriage

New Delhi: The central government on Wednesday defended a provision in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that does not punish a man for forcibly having intercourse with his minor wife, stating that the exception in rape law was intended to safeguard the sanctity of the institution of marriage.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the Centre made the statement before a bench headed by Justice MB Lokur. The bench was hearing a petition filed by an NGO that had earlier requested the court to look into Section 375 (2) of the IPC – an exception to the rape law – that allows a man to have sex with his wife aged between 15 and 17.

The NGO resorted to laws pertaining to children and said there should be uniform means to define a ‘child’. While the marriageable age for women in India is 18 and a girl marrying below that stipulated cap is known to commit an illegal act; on the other hand, the IPC provision encourages child marriages.

However, the Centre resisted the petitioner’s claims raising the point of ‘age of consent’. Binu Tamta said in court that the institution of marriage has to be protected. Marriage between two minors is not void but voidable since child marriages in the country are a prevalent reality, Tamta quoted from the law on marriage. Tamta spoke about the socio-economic constraints in India.

The Centre’s defence came after the apex court sought to know as to whether Parliament debated the aspect of protecting married girls, between the age group of 15 and 18 years, from the forced sexual acts by their spouses. It also asked whether the court could intervene to protect the rights of such married girls who may be sexually exploited by their spouses.

The report further said, in response to the Supreme Court’s sceptical query that if the exception wasn’t an incentive for child marriages, the Centre claimed that with 23 million child brides, a reading down of the IPC provision may subject husbands to criminal prosecution thus jeopardising lives of these brides.

Citing, that rape law makes consensual sex between a man and girl of ages falling anywhere from 15 to 18, a cognizable offence; then why should a girl of the same age suffer in a marriage, the NGO’s counsel Gaurav Agarwal inquired of the bench.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday also said that marital rape cannot be considered a criminal act.

Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which defines the offence of rape, has an exception clause that says the intercourse or sexual act by a man with his wife, not below 15 years, is not a rape.