The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has absolved a 40-year-old man who was accused by his wife of having unnatural sex with her, which, she claimed, had led to her contracting an infection.
Citing the 31-year-old woman was residing with her husband during the subsistence of the marriage, a single bench of Justice Prem Narayan Singh observed that "any sexual intercourse or act by the husband with his wife not below the age of fifteen years is not rape," adding that "therefore, consent is immaterial".
"In these circumstances, the allegations made in the FIR does not constitute offence under Section 377 of IPC against the petitioner no.1. Accordingly, the petitioner no.1 is discharged from offence under Section 377 of IPC," the court observed in its order of May 28.
While it dropped charges under Section 377 (unnatural act), Section 294 (abuse) and Section 506 (threatening) of the Indian Penal Code against the man, the court refused to quash section 498-A (cruelty to a woman by her husband or her relative).
In the FIR registered in Mandsaur district, the woman had accused her husband and his family of torturing her physically and mentally for Rs 20 lakh dowry.
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