The Bombay High Court has ruled that consensual sex with a minor, even in marriage, constitutes rape under the law, while upholding a 10-year sentence for a man accused of raping his minor wife.
According to LiveLaw report, single-judge Justice Govind Sanap while upholding the conviction of a man for raping his minor wife, rejected his argument that the sexual intercourse with the victim was consensual and cannot amount to rape since she was his wife, at the relevant time.
"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 the sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape regardless of whether she is married or not," the judge said.
The judge was hearing a criminal appeal filed by a man challenging a judgment of a trial court in Wardha district, convicting him under charges of rape and provisions of the the stringent Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The appellant was arrested on May 25, 2019 after the complainant, a minor girl, who was carrying 31 weeks' pregnancy at the relevant time, lodged a case against him.
As per complaint, the duo was in a love affair and the appellant had forcible sexual intercourse with her and later on continued with the same on a false promise to marry. When she conceived and requested the appellant to perform marriage. He then staged a "farce marriage" ceremony in a rented room with the presence of some neighbours.
However, he then started insisting the complainant to abort the pregnancy, to which she refused and he assaulted her. He even disowned the paternity of the child in her womb. Then the victim filed a police complaint in May 2019, leading to the accused's arrest.
In his defence, the appellant claimed that the sexual relationship was consensual and that the girl was his wife.
However, Justice said, "In my view, this submission cannot be accepted for more than one reason. In this case, the prosecution has proved that the victim on the date of commission of the crime was below 18 years of age".
The bench observed that the DNA report confirmed the accused and the victim as the biological parents of the male child born from the relationship.
