SC: Sex with wife under eighteen is rape | Fusion - WeRIndia

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced a new verdict on the subject of child marriage and intercourse. Now, any sexual act done by a man with a wife less than eighteen years of age will be considered as child rape.

A non-governmental organization called Independent Thought filed a plea on this issue, in which they challenged the exception to the general age of consent.

Although the general age of consent has been eighteen years of age, a man would previously be allowed to have sexual intercourse with his wife if she were only fifteen years of age or older. However, the age of consent will now be eighteen years of age all across the board.

The verdict was reached by the court when they ruled that Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (or IPC) is contradictory to Articles 14, 15, and 21.

Additionally, this exception is not in consonance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (or POSCO Act).

To enforce the protection of the rights of young girls, the Supreme Court urged the Central and State governments to take further steps to prevent child marriages.

This verdict was intentionally announced on the International Day of the Girl Child.

The Supreme Court’s verdict is a large setback to the Center, which had been defending and justifying Exception 2 to Section 375 of the IPC.  The Center had said that the verdict against the exception will open up the arena of marital rape, which did not previously exist in India.

However, the apex court had questioned, when the age of consent is eighteen years of age for all purposes, why it was permitted for a husband to have sexual intercourse with a wife only over fifteen years of age.

With this new verdict having been passed, more rights for young girls will hopefully come into being soon.

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