The Chhattisgarh High Court has stated that women cannot be forced to undergo virginity tests, as this violates Article 21 of the Constitution. This article guarantees a woman's fundamental right to protection of life and liberty, including the right to dignity.
The judgment was delivered in response to a criminal petition filed by a man who demanded his wife's virginity test alleging she was in an illicit relationship with another man, challenging a family court's order dated October 15, 2024, which rejected the interim application.
The couple got married on April 30, 2023, following Hindu rites. They lived together at the husband's family residence in Korba district.
Accusing her husband of impotency, the wife refused to cohabit with him and filed an interim application on July 2, 2024, under section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) before the family court in Raigarh district seeking maintenance of Rs 20,000 from her husband.
In response to the maintenance claim interim application, the petitioner husband sought a virginity test of his wife. He alleged that she was engaged in an illicit affair with her brother-in-law and that their marriage had remained unconsummated.
On October 15, 2024, the family court rejected the husband's request following which he filed a criminal petition in the High Court.
The HC noted that the contention of the petitioner demanding a virginity test of his wife is unconstitutional as it violates Article 21 of the Constitution which includes the right to dignity of women.
"Article 21 of the Constitution of India not only guarantees the right to life and personal liberty but also the right to live with dignity, which is crucial for women.
"No woman can be forced to conduct her virginity test. It is a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21. It has to be borne in mind that Article 21 is the 'heart of fundamental rights'," the high court said.
"The right to personal liberty enshrined under Article 21 is non-derogable and cannot be tinkered with in any manner. The petitioner cannot possibly be permitted to subject the wife to undergo her virginity test and fill up the lacuna in his evidence in this regard.
"Be that as it may, but in any case, granting the permission for virginity test of the respondent would be against her fundamental rights, the cardinal principles of natural justice and secret modesty of a female," the court stated.
