Raipur: The Chhattisgarh high court acquitted a man, who was convicted of rape after facing the charges following his wife’s death in 2017, and ordered his immediate release from prison.
Referring to amended Section 375 of the IPC that excludes marital rape, Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas ruled that sexual intercourse, including unnatural act, with wife, even without her consent, can not be treated as an offence. “If the age of wife is not below age of 15 years then any sexual intercourse or sexual act by the husband with his wife cannot be termed as rape.”
The 2013 amendment to Section 375 IPC, which introduced Exception 2, states that sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife do not constitute rape. “This exception also applies to unnatural sex between spouses and therefore, Section 377 IPC cannot be invoked,” the court added.
The verdict in the case was reserved by the court on November 19 last year and delivered on Monday (February 10).
The Jabalpur resident was convicted by a trial court in Bastar district under IPC Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). He was arrested on December 11, 2017, on the basis of the statement of his wife recorded before an executive magistrate before she died the same day at a government hospital.
The woman had alleged that she fell ill due to “forceful sexual intercourse” by her husband.
