Why is it in the news?

• The Supreme Court held that a man will be punished for rape if he is found to be guilty of having sexual intercourse with his minor wife.

What was the verdict against?

• The exception to Section 375 (rape) of the IPC, allowed a husband to have sexual relations with his 15-year-old wife.
• The exception clause to the heinous offense of rape allows a man to have sex with his wife who is not aged below 15. 

Verdict ends disparity

• Apex court has ended the disparity between this exception to Section 375 (rape) of the IPC and the definition of ‘child’ in recent laws such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
• The latter includes any person below the age of 18.
• The verdict also ends tacit allowance the exception clause in the IPC provided to child marriages, which was declared illegal and is a punishable offense, though a social reality especially in rural parts of the country.
• The judgment, though the Bench had said time and again that it did not want to delve into the issue of marital rape, now inevitably opens a window for a law on marital rape.
• The Supreme Court had questioned the reason for the Parliament to create an exception in the penal law declaring that sexual intercourse by a man with his minor wife is not rape.
• The apex court had asked the reason for such an exception in the Indian Penal Code when the age of consent was 18 years for "all purposes."
• The government counsel had defended the exemption as something the Parliament had given due thought and consideration about.