Sexual Intercourse With Minor Wife Can Not Be Termed As Rape: Delhi HC Upholds Acquittal Of Man

The Delhi High Court has upheld the acquittal of a man who established physical relations with her 15-year-old wife, saying that it cannot be termed as rape. This came as a division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna declined to entertain the State's appeal against the trial court verdict in the case. The defendant - a Muslim man - was rightfully acquitted by the trial court, the high court division bench observed, news agency PTI reported.

“The additional sessions judge had rightly observed that in view of the testimony of the child that she got married to the respondent (man) in the month of December, 2014 and only thereafter did they have physical relationship, no offence under Section 6 read with Section 5(1) of POCSO Act was made out and the respondent was rightly acquitted,” the bench stated.

"We find that since the child victim was the wife who was almost fifteen years of age, the physical relationship of the respondent with the victim, cannot be termed as rape. The respondent has been rightly acquitted," the Delhi HC bench said.

The Indian Penal Code's (IPC) Section 375 , which defines the offence of rape, states that "sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape".

According to the prosecution, the man was charged with rape in 2015 on the basis of a complaint by his minor wife's mother after she found out her daughter was pregnant.

The girl had submitted before the trial court that the accused was his brother-in-law, who married her in December 2014. She testified that he indulged in sexual intercourse with her only after the marriage and that physical relation was established consensually, leading to pregnancy. The teenager submitted that her mother was not aware of the marriage when she found out about her pregnancy.

(With inputs from agencies)