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Minor wife can prosecute husband for rape, holds Supreme Court
In a PIL seeking harmonization of the sexual assault laws under POCSO and IPC, the Supreme Court has held that a minor wife can prosecute her husband for rape. This judgment allows non-consensual sex with a wife under 18 years of age to be prosecuted as rape, thus aligning the provisions on statutory rape with marital rape. Consequently, the marital rape exception to Sec. 375 of the IPC is now applicable only to adult married women.
Independent Thought v. Union of India and Anr. W.P. (C) No. 382/2013