Unnatural Sex Without Wife’s Consent Is Cruelty, Not Rape: MP High Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that while forcing a wife into unnatural sex cannot be treated as rape or an unnatural offence under Sections 376 or 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), it can still amount to ‘cruelty’ under Section 498A if accompanied by physical violence or abuse.
The verdict was delivered by Justice GS Ahluwalia of the Gwalior bench, who was hearing a petition filed by a man seeking to quash an FIR lodged by his wife. The woman had accused her husband of subjecting her to unnatural sex against her will, along with physical assault.
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The judge observed that though Indian law does not currently recognise marital rape as a criminal offence, forced unnatural sex, especially when resisted by the wife and coupled with physical assault, clearly falls within the legal definition of cruelty under Section 498A.
“Committing unnatural sex with a wife against her wishes and on her resistance, assaulting and treating her with physical cruelty will certainly fall within the definition of cruelty,” said the judge, quoted TOI, adding that a demand for dowry is not essential to establish cruelty under Section 498A.
The court quashed charges under Section 377, which criminalises unnatural offences, but upheld charges under Section 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives) and Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), stating there was enough prima facie evidence to proceed, the court noted.
The husband had argued that unnatural sex with one’s wife is not punishable under the current provisions of IPC, and that Section 498A shouldn’t apply in the absence of dowry-related allegations.
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The court firmly disagreed, reportedly clarifying that cruelty extends beyond dowry demands to include any willful act that causes grave harm or endangers a woman’s mental or physical health.
The MP High Court’s decision comes just months after a controversial ruling by the Chhattisgarh High Court, where the court acquitted a man accused of forcing his wife into unnatural sex.
In that case, even though the wife later died of injuries and named her husband in her dying declaration, the court held that a husband cannot be prosecuted for unnatural sex with his adult wife, citing Indian law’s current position on marital rape.
