The Bombay High Court has ruled that consensual sex with a minor wife is considered rape, and the legal defense of consent cannot be used in such cases. The Nagpur Bench of the Court upheld a 10-year sentence for a man who was convicted after his wife filed a rape complaint against him.

Justice GA Sanap, in his ruling, clarified that the legal age of consent is 18 years, stating, “In view of the law laid down by the apex court, intercourse by the appellant with the victim being his wife would not constitute rape or penetrative sexual assault, cannot be accepted. It needs to be stated that sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape, regardless of whether she is married or not,”.

The High Court further said that the defence of consensual sex cannot be applied if the wife or alleged wife is under 18 years of age. The bench confirmed the conviction and 10-year sentence handed down by the lower court.

According to the case details, the man engaged in non-consensual sexual intercourse with the complainant, resulting in pregnancy. Though he later married her, their relationship soured, leading the woman to report the crime.

The High Court said, “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.”

At the time of the incident, the accused was a neighbour to the survivor, who lived in Wardha, Maharashtra, with her father, sisters, and grandmother. The couple had been in a romantic relationship for 3-4 years prior to the 2019 complaint, but the survivor had consistently rejected the accused’s advances for sexual intimacy.

Due to financial difficulties, the survivor moved to another town for work, where the accused followed her. He began offering rides to and from her workplace and eventually coerced her into a sexual relationship, which resulted in pregnancy, the report said.

Initially, the accused promised marriage and staged a mock wedding in the presence of some neighbours. However, his behavior turned abusive, involving physical violence and pressure for an abortion. He later denied paternity, accusing her of infidelity, the report mentioned.

Faced with continued abuse, the survivor filed a police complaint in May 2019, leading to the arrest of the accused.

In his defence, the accused claimed the sexual relationship was consensual and that the survivor was his wife. However, Justice Sanap rejected this argument, stating that the prosecution had established the victim’s age as under 18 at the time of the offense.

The bench also noted that DNA testing confirmed the accused and the victim were the biological parents of the child born from their relationship.