Sex with minor wife is rape says Bombay High Court, see details here

Mumbai (Maharashtra): In a welcome move by the Bombay High Court, the Court clearly said on Friday that, sex with minor wife is rape. According to reports, the Bombay High Court bench said that sexual intercourse between a man and his wife who is below 18 years would constitute rape even it it is consensual.

Earlier in the case of Independent Thought vs Union of India and another, the Supreme Court had given the same judgement as the Bombay High Court.

However in the present case, the victim a minor was allegedly forced into a sexual relationship with a man. She said that she was forced to have a relationship on the false pretext of marriage. She further told the court that she had married the man a but she was a minor and she gave the court photos of them garlanding each other.

The defence in the case clearly said that the case was prima facie ineligible because the sexual act was consensual. However, the Court dismissed these arguments and firmly stated that the prosecution had convincingly established that the victim was underage at the time of the alleged offences and any sexual relationship with minor shall be considenred rape even if it is consensual.

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