Raipur, February 12, 2025: The Chhattisgarh High Court has acquitted a 40-year-old man accused of marital rape and unnatural sex, ruling that a husband cannot be prosecuted for raping his wife under Indian law. The judgment, delivered by Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas, set aside the man’s conviction under Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences), and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and ordered his immediate release.

Court’s Rationale: Marital Rape Exception Still in Force

The High Court relied on Exception 2 under Section 375 of the IPC, which states that a husband cannot be held guilty of raping his wife if she is above 15 years of age.

“It is quite clear that if the wife is not below 15 years of age, then any sexual intercourse or sexual act by the husband with his wife cannot be termed as rape… As such, the absence of consent of the wife for an unnatural act loses its importance,” Justice Vyas stated in his order.

The court further held that if Section 375 exempts husbands from rape charges, then Section 377 (which criminalizes unnatural sex) also cannot be applied to a husband engaging in such acts with his wife.

This interpretation, however, appears to conflict with the Supreme Court’s 2017 ruling in the Independent Thought case, where the apex court had raised the age of consent in marriage to 18 years. Notably, the alleged offence in this case occurred in December 2017, just two months after the Supreme Court judgment.

Case Background and Trial Court Conviction

The case involved the husband of a deceased minor victim, who died on December 11, 2017. According to the prosecution, the man had engaged in forceful and unnatural sexual intercourse with his wife, inserting his hand into her anus, which allegedly led to severe pain and contributed to her death.

The victim’s dying declaration, recorded by an executive magistrate, stated that she had fallen ill due to the forceful sexual act by her husband.

Based on this evidence, the trial court in May 2019 had convicted the accused and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. However, the High Court overturned this conviction, citing legal immunity for husbands under Exception 2 to Section 375 IPC.

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Regarding the culpable homicide charge, the High Court ruled that the dying declaration lacked corroboration and could not be solely relied upon.

Legal Controversy and the Supreme Court’s Pending Review

This verdict has reignited debates over the criminalization of marital rape in India, an issue currently under consideration by the Supreme Court. A batch of public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the constitutionality of the marital rape exception has been pending before the apex court for over two years.

The Union Government has defended the existing law, arguing that removing the exception could “destroy the institution of marriage” and has urged the Supreme Court to respect the legislature’s wisdom in retaining the provision.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2024, which replaced the IPC effective July 1, 2024, retains the marital rape exception. However, unlike the IPC, BNS does not contain a provision akin to Section 377, meaning non-consensual unnatural sex between spouses is no longer explicitly criminalized under the new law.

Broader Implications and Ongoing Legal Battle

Women’s rights activists and legal experts have criticized the ruling, arguing that it undermines the right to bodily autonomy and goes against the principles laid down in landmark Supreme Court verdicts such as the 2017 right to privacy judgment.

While the government acknowledges that a husband has no fundamental right to violate his wife’s consent, it has warned against the potential misuse of a law criminalizing marital rape. The controversial October 2024 affidavit submitted by the government in the Supreme Court expressed concerns that strict penal provisions could be misused in matrimonial disputes.

As the Supreme Court continues its deliberations on the issue, this judgment serves as a stark reminder of the legal vacuum surrounding marital rape in India. With the BNS now in force, legal challenges over spousal sexual autonomy are expected to intensify in the coming months.