Sex with wife under 18 will be considered rape: Supreme Court

Agencies
October 11, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 11: In a sensational verdict, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ruled that sex with a wife who is under 18 years of age is rape and therefore a crime.

The top court did not rule on 'marital rape', which is sexual intercourse forced upon a spouse no matter what their age.

Before today's SC ruling, there was an exception in Section 375 rape law provisions that protected a man who had sexual relations with his wife even if she was under 18, which is the age of consent.

"Exception 2 in Section 375 of IPC (Indian Penal Code) granting protection to husband is violative of constitution and fundamental rights of minor bride', says Supreme Court.

The top court's verdict upholds the rights of 2.3 crore child brides in the country.

The SC rejected the plea of the Centre which justified the provision on the grounds that child marriage is a reality in the country and such marriage has to be protected.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur had on September 6 asked the Centre how Parliament could create an exception in a law when the age of consent is 18.

Also in September, the apex court had said it did not want to go into the aspect of marital rape, but when the age of consent was 18 years for "all purposes", why was such an exception made in the IPC.

Responding to the query, the Centre's counsel had said if this exception under the IPC goes, then it would open up the arena of marital rape+ which does not exist in India.

"Economic and educational development in the country is still uneven and child marriages are still taking place. It has been therefore decided to retain the age of 15 years under Exception 2 so as to give protection to husband and wife against criminalising the sexual activity between them. It is also estimated that there are 23 million child brides in the country. Hence, criminalising the consummation of a marriage with such a serious offence such as rape would not be appropriate and practical," the Centre had said.

As per the National Family Health Survey, 46 per cent of women between the ages of 18-29 years were married before the age of 18.
 

Comments

U NEED TO GO THRU STATISTICS... Many girls IN ANOTHER COMMUNITY are threatened and raped before they get to the marriage age from their own family members as well as the saints , most of them are in jails... 

PK
 - 
Thursday, 12 Oct 2017

Some community girls are used and misused by the men and the girl tolerates b4 the marriage. The drunken men alwz escape with cheddi culture by threatening the young girls and their parents.... Go thru the statistics... It is better to get married and take responsibility of the family if the girl is ready to marry.

 

Shareef
 - 
Thursday, 12 Oct 2017

Dear Prathima,

You said some communities like under age girls for..,  

see my sister, what difference does it make age below 18 to 15. Do they have more power than girls above 18. 

does girl become very old if she is above 18.  Above 18means usually it can go upto 28.

95% marriage of girls take place between 16-30

May God protect our girls and boys also.

 

Sharifaka
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Only the girl can say if she has been raped or not

what about other religion girls starts having sex immediate after puberty? even some try when they enter  highschool.

MSMS
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Listen carefully,  the above text says :

    "  Sex with a wife who is under 18yrs of  age is rape and therefore a crime. "

 

It interpretes as child marriage is invalid.

If the marriage is invalid how do they become wife and husband.

So this rule may does not applicable such wife.

 

Naresh
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

This law is not thought through. Judges need the input of psychologists to understand the behaviour of adolescents. There are teenagers today having relationships before 18. Are they going to throw them in jail?

Ibrahm
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Ridiculous judgement. Marriage is society's way of allowing for the purpose of having children, since the married couple will then have to make the necessary sacrifices to bring up the children. If under 18 is statutory rape then why allow the marriage in the first place? The SC is coming up in many cases with foolish decisions that are against accepted norms and practices. The SC will risk making itself into an impotent body if it does not have a clue on how this is viewed by the people at large.

Unknown
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Underage marriage is still practiced by muslims 

Stranger
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Many pedophile worshipers belonging to a piece full community disguising as hindu are venting their anger against this judgement for reasons very well known to all. next we should ban all books / texts /manuals/biographies which eulogizes pedophiles/ pedophilia.

Prathima
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Some community men like young underage girls for . We welcome the order.

Sreenath
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

Is its applicable only to Hindus or is it also applicable to Muslims? ..I see lot of them getting married at 15year 2 children by 18yrs..

Manish Raj
 - 
Wednesday, 11 Oct 2017

What if the wife does not tell the husband the correct age and inter course is consensual? Later on there is marital discord, can then it be considered as rape?

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
May 18,2020

Udupi, May 18: G Jagadeesh, Deputy Commissioner of Udupi today warned that criminal cases would be filed, if people under quarantine roam around, as they put the lives of others in risk, by coming out.

He said: "There are more than 6,000 people under quarantine in hotels, hostels, schools etc in different parts of the district. They include those who returned from other countries and other states.”

“We have allowed them to return to the district. Now I am receiving complaints that many of them are violating quarantine guidelines and venturing out. This is unacceptable.”

“As it is a risk to the whole society, severe action will be taken against the neglect and apathy of the persons under quarantine,” he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Protesters plan to intensify their anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act movement from sit-down satyagrahas and rallies to street and door-to-door campaigns in different parts of the city.

The street campaigns began on January 1 with 20-30 volunteers of Hum Bharat Ke Log, reaching out to people in Koramangala and Whitefield and explaining the CAA, National Population Register (NPR), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and related issues. They have organised four campaigns.

According to Zia Nomani, member of Hum Bharat Ke Log, the campaign will intensify soon. “Over 200-400 volunteers will organise nukkad sabhas and other activities around JP Nagar and Banashankari,” Nomani said.

She added that though protests began as a medium for people to vent their concerns, more needs to be done.

“We have realised that many people have begun working on their personal documents and want to help them understand what CAA is all about,” Nomani said.

Volunteers will talk to people at street junctions, discuss issues and run signature campaigns. They say: “Our movement is focussed on reaching out to people. Pro-CAA workers too started a door-to-door campaign last week.”

Avani Chokshi, an advocate who participated in a campaign, said though people had a cursory idea about these issues, they didn’t know the details. “It through such campaigns that we can reach more people. It’s important to talk to people who haven’t made up their mind about the issues or are even pro-CAA,” said Avani, adding, “It hard to combat hatred in a short span of time. The movement needs to be sustained.”

Activist Geeta Menon, who has been at the forefront of the street campaign, says they were heckled at some places.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: Stepping up attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday dared the AAP chief to visit the anti-CAA protest site at Shaheen Bagh so that the people of Delhi can decide whom to vote for in the assembly election.

Addressing a rally in Rithala in northwest Delhi, Shah said Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were against the construction of Ram temple, the scrapping of provisions of Article 370 and not bothered about the country's image and soldiers.

The opposition fears that they will upset their vote bank, he said and asked, "Are you their vote bank? Where is their vote bank?" To this, the crowd replied, "Shaheen Bagh".

The BJP leader claimed that the Delhi Police has booked Sharjeel Imam, a JNU student, on the charge of sedition for his comment of "trying to cut chicken's neck" and breaking the North East from the rest of the country.

"I want to ask Kejriwal whether he is in favour of apprehending Sharjeel Imam or not? Whether you are with the people of Shaheen Bagh or not, please tell the people of Delhi," Shah said.

Imam was one of the initial organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest.

Hitting back at the BJP, Kejriwal alleged that the saffron party does not want to open the Shaheen Bagh stretch of the Kalindi Kunj road as it is doing "dirty politics" over it.

He said law and order in the national capital lies entirely with the Centre and "if they are saying that they need permission from me, I am giving them permission, open the road in one hour".

"I can give it to you in writing, the BJP does not want to open the route in Shaheen Bagh. The Shaheen Bagh route will remain closed till February 8 (election day) and it will open February 9," Kejriwal told reporters.

Calling Kejriwal a member of the 'tukde tukde' gang, a term used by the BJP to attack groups it accuses of working to promote violent leftists and separatism, Shah sought to return fire and said the protesters of Shaheen Bagh will not listen to his party.

"They will not listen to us. You people (AAP leaders) say that you are with Shaheen Bagh, if you have the guts then go and sit with them and let Delhi decide," Shah said.

At another election rally in Janakpuri, Shah accused Gandhi and Kejriwal of doing politics of "vote bank" on national issues and "supporting" the protest at Shaheen Bagh while instigating riots and vandalism.

"The Modi government will not spare anti-national elements," he warned.

Upon mentioning the recent Supreme Court judgment on Ayodhya, Shah was greeted with cheers and chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The home minister further said that this was the first Republic Day in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the tricolour was unfurled there with enthusiasm and without any bloodshed.

The former BJP president also attacked the Kejriwal government for not fulfilling promises like regularising temporary employees, providing free wifi, opening new schools and colleges, constructing roads and cleaning the Yamuna.

"Kejriwal government is in power since five years but till today there is no clean drinking water in the city. There are no good schools or hospitals as claimed by him. When I visited a Delhi government school, I saw that it was operating from a building that was illegally built and falls in the list of those that to be erased," Shah said.

He claimed that Kejriwal came to power with the help of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement but "completely changed" later on.

"He had said that he would not take any government accommodation or vehicles and other facilities but after becoming chief minister he availed all these facilities," Shah said.

He also slammed the Delhi government for not sanctioning the prosecution of former JNU students' union leader Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case.

Shah said if the national capital comes under the leadership of Modi, it will become the best city in the world.

The BJP has a vision for development of Delhi and cleaning the Yamuna river will be on top of our agenda, he said.

"Yamuna river is still dirty as against his (Kejriwal) claims of cleaning the river... Modi and Yogi (Adityanath) have cleaned Ganga river as promised. We will make Yamuna Riverfront like Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad," Shah said.

However, a sizeable majority of those present at the public meeting was not convinced by the claims and promises made by Shah.

Bablu Yadav, a migrant and resident of Janakpuri said, "Shah and Modi can only talk but Kejriwal knows how to perform. They keep raking up issues like Ayodhya, Kashmir, Muslims and Pakistan... what are they waiting for if they want to attack Pakistan? They are in power, so why don't they destroy it instead of telling us how wrong Pakistan is?"

Another local Deepak Shrivastava who attended the Janakpuri meeting said, "All we hear from Modi and Shah are pep talks. I am an engineer from BHU and searching for a job. This government has failed the country's youth."

"Now, they have a problem with protests in universities but it is the same youth who brought them to power in 2014. The same youth will ensure their defeat," he added.

The public meeting in Janakpuri witnessed two incidents of pick-pocketing as the thieves managed to steal Rs 37,500 in cash and a mobile phone, police said.

Comments

Indian Soul
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Jan 2020

The biggest ANti-Nationals of INDIA are criminal Modi & AMith Shah Tadi PAAR...how long you will win by EVM...one day the people of indian will teach you a lesion of your life...

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.