Marital Rape Exception
Definition
Exception 2 to BNS 2023 Section 63 (carrying forward IPC 375 Exception 2): intercourse by a man with his own wife not under 18 is not rape. Read down to wife not under 18 by Independent Thought (2017).
- Provision
- Exception 2 to BNS 2023 Section 63
- Predecessor
- IPC Section 375 Exception 2
- Effect
- Wife's non-consent immaterial if she is not under 18
- Judicial modification
- Read down by Independent Thought v. Union of India, 2017
Common questions
What did Independent Thought (2017) actually change about the exception?+
The Supreme Court held that sexual intercourse with a wife between 15 and 18 years old falls outside the exception and constitutes rape regardless of marriage, aligning the marital exception's age threshold with the general age of consent, though it left the exception intact for wives 18 and above.
Is the marital rape exception for adult wives still being challenged in Indian courts?+
Yes, the constitutional validity of the exception for wives 18 and above has been litigated in multiple High Courts and remains before the Supreme Court, so a forensic or medicolegal report in a current case should note the exception's status may be under active judicial review.
Related terms
- Consent
- Under BNS 2023 Explanation 2 to Section 63, unequivocal voluntary agreement by words, gestures or any verbal or non-verbal communication. Absence of...
- Fast-Track Court
- Designated court (often Fast Track Special Court, FTSC) set up under the 2019 scheme to dispose POCSO and rape cases within stipulated...
- MoH&FW Protocol 2014
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Guidelines and Protocols for Medico-legal Care for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Violence, 2014. Standardised history,...
- Penetration
- Even slight penetration of the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus by the penis, any body part, or any object is sufficient to...
- POCSO 2012
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (India); establishes criminal liability for child sexual abuse but does not mandate sex-offender...
- Rape (BNS 2023 Section 63)
- Sexual intercourse or specified penetrative acts by a man with a woman without her consent, against her will, by coercion, by misrepresentation,...
- Sexual Assault (POCSO)
- Under POCSO 2012, any non-penetrative sexual touch of a child with sexual intent. Aggravated sexual assault attracts higher punishment when committed by...
- Statutory Rape
- Sexual intercourse with a person below the age of consent (18 in India), regardless of consent. The minor's consent is legally irrelevant.
- Two-Finger Test
- Discredited per-vaginal examination once used to comment on habituation to intercourse. Banned by the Supreme Court in Lillu @ Rajesh v State...