Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court Monday acquitted a Jagdalpur man who had been convicted of rape, unnatural sex, and culpable homicide in the death of his wife.
Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas ruled that sexual intercourse, including unnatural acts, between a man and his adult wife, even without her consent, cannot be treated as an offence. The ruling overturned the man’s 2019 conviction by a trial court in Bastar district.
The man, arrested in December 2017, had been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted under sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. His wife passed away on the same day her statement was recorded by an executive magistrate, where she accused him of forcing unnatural sex on her.
The trial court found the man guilty based on her dying declaration, but the defence challenged the evidence, arguing there was insufficient proof. The defence also questioned the reliance on the dying declaration, presenting testimony from two witnesses that suggested the woman had suffered from piles, which could have caused her pain.
During the appeal hearing, the man’s lawyer argued that the trial court had failed to consider all relevant medical evidence and emphasized that the wife’s consent in the case of unnatural sex with a husband was legally irrelevant.
The Chhattisgarh High Court noted that under the 2013 amendment to Section 375 of the IPC, sexual intercourse between a man and his wife cannot be classified as rape unless the wife is under the age of 15. The court also pointed to a Supreme Court ruling in the Navtej Singh Johar case, which found parts of Section 377 unconstitutional, stating that unnatural sex between a husband and wife cannot be treated as an offence if it occurs with consent.
The High Court further dismissed the conviction under Section 304 (culpable homicide), describing it as ‘perverse’ and stating that the trial court had failed to establish how the charge applied in this case.
“Thus, it is quite vivid, that if the age of the wife is not below 15 years, then any sexual intercourse or sexual act by the husband with his wife cannot be termed as rape,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
The court acquitted the man of all charges and ordered his immediate release from jail.
PNN & Agencies
