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?

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News Network
July 4,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 4: A young woman doctor at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru, who had raised an alarm about faulty PPE kits and shortage of N95 masks, has tested positive for the covid-19.

Taking note of this, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha brought the issue to the attention on Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Twitter. Tagging the minister, the MP tweeted, “For your information and I feel, it is a genuine concern.” “Amulya Gowda treated Covid patients at KIMS.

Karnataka Medical Association took to social media to express concern over the development. In a Facebook post it wrote: "Amulya C Gowda is a frontline worker who risks her life every single day. Last week she raised an alarm about faulty PPE kits and shortage of N-95 masks. But the Administrative Medical Officer (AMO) at KIMS, shunned and chastised her for raising this issue. Ever since, she has been buying her own N-95 masks. Today, she tested positive for Covid-19 and appealed to the Hospital authorities and raised her genuine concerns over the faulty protective gear, but she was again harassed and humiliated for raising the issue."

Dr DH Ashwath Narayana, Medical Superintendent, KIMS Hospital, said that all PPE kits at KIMS were certified by SITRA (South India Textiles Research Association), Coimbatore and that they had purchased N-95 masks available in the market. "One cannot claim faulty PPEs are the reason for testing positive. We have purchased whatever PPE kits are available in the market. Healthcare workers across hospitals, private and government, and policemen are also getting infected."

As the new rules by the state government allow healthcare workers home isolation, Narayana said the doctor is recuperating at home and that she is doing fine.

Medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar tweeted, "Doctors are our frontline warriors battling the pandemic. Government has taken all necessary measures to ensure safety of our doctors. I have taken note of supply of defective masks and PPE kits to KIMS doctors and ordered an enquiry. Management will be held responsible if found guilty."

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coastaldigest.com news network
February 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 5: B S Yediyurappa-led Karnataka cabinet has finally decided to resume supply of subsidised rice and wheat to students of welfare institutions and hostels including those run by religious mutts under the Dasoha Scheme’s welfare programme. The supply was stopped over two months ago.

“Cabinet has decided to continue supply of subsidised foodgrains (rice and wheat) for the benefit of 37,700 children under the Dasoha scheme in 351 welfare institutions for the next one year at the cost of Rs 18 crore,” said J C Madhuswamy, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Under this scheme, institutions that provide free accommodation and food for students are entitled to avail 10 kg rice and 5 kg wheat per student every month at subsidised rates. But following a central government directive in November, the state government had stopped supply to private institutions since December.

Hours before the cabinet meeting, Khader addressed a press conference and said, “This government is snatching away food from children by stalling the supply of foodgrains. Institutions like Suttur Mutt, Siddaganga Mutt that have worldwide fame for their service are being inconvenienced by this,” Khader said.

Finding itself in a fix, especially in a matter that involves mutts, the cabinet was quick to restore the supply. “Foodgrains were being supplied to 183 government-run institutions and 281 institutions run by private entities. As per a central government directive, supply to private institutions was stopped but the decision was made by the previous government,” Shashikala Jolle, Women and Child Development Minister, said.

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News Network
July 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 19: Three legislators of the opposition Congress in Karnataka, including 2 MLAs and 1 MLC tested positive for coronavirus and are under treatment, a party official said on Saturday.

"Our Bailhongal MLA Mahantesh Koujalgi in Belagavi district and Humnabad MLA Rajashekhar Patil and his MLC brother Chandrashekhar Patil in Bidar district tested positive for the infection and are under treatment at designated hospitals," party spokesman Ravi Gowda told media persons in Bangaluru.

Koujalgi's swab sample was taken on Friday after he showed signs of illness and its result turned positive earlier in the day.

"As Koujalgi attended a review meeting at Bailhongal, about 20 officials who participated in the meeting have been home quarantined," said Gowda.

Koujalgi is the second lawmaker in the state's northwest region to test positive after BJP's Belagavi North assembly segment MLA Anik Benake tested positive for the virus on July 15.

"Patil brothers were in self quarantine after meeting BJP's Bidar Lok Sabha member Bhagwanth Khuba, who tested positive on Wednesday. Their tests also showed they were infected with the virus," Gowda said.

Congress MLC Sandesh Nagaraj, who tested positive on Friday, is under treatment at a private hospital in Mysuru.

Dakshina Kannada district Youth Congress president Mithun Rai is in institutional quarantine in Bengaluru after he tested positive for the infection.

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