The Chhattisgarh High Court has observed that a husband cannot be charged with rape or unnatural sex for engaging in sexual relations with his wife, regardless of her consent, as long as she is above 15 years of age.

A single bench of Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas ruled that, under Indian law, the notion of ‘consent’ in marital intercourse, including acts considered unnatural, carries no legal significance.

 “If the age of the wife is not below 15 years, then any sexual intercourse or sexual act by the husband cannot be termed as rape. In such circumstances, the absence of the wife’s consent loses its significance,” the bench ruled.

The ruling came in response to a case from December 11, 2017, where a woman was allegedly subjected to unnatural sex by her husband against her will. Following the incident, she had to be hospitalised due to severe injuries and later passed away.

In her dying declaration, the woman accused her husband of forceful sexual intercourse, which led to medical complications. Doctors later confirmed that she had succumbed to peritonitis and rectal perforation, injuries linked to the alleged assault.

Despite the trial court convicting the husband and sentencing him to 10 years in prison, the High Court overturned the decision. It ruled that under current Indian law, marital rape is not recognised as an offence and that a husband’s sexual acts with his wife—no matter how forceful—do not amount to rape or unnatural sex under Sections 376 (rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) of the IPC.

The Chhattisgarh High Court’s ruling echoes similar decisions made in the past but stands in contrast to other high court judgments that have sought to expand protections for women, particularly minor wives.

In November 2023, the Bombay High Court ruled that consensual sex with a minor wife is rape, rejecting the defence of consent in such cases. The Nagpur Bench upheld a 10-year sentence for a man convicted after his minor wife accused him of rape.

Justice GA Sanap emphasised that the legal age of consent is 18 years, clarifying that a husband cannot claim exemption if his wife is underage, regardless of marital status. “Intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape, whether she is married or not,” the court stated, reinforcing protections for minor girls under the law.