Marital rape not recognised, says Madhya Pradesh HC, quashes unnatural sex case registered against man by wife

'This court is of considered opinion that after having come to a conclusion that the act of unnatural sex by a husband with his legally wedded wife residing with him is not an offence under Section 377 of IPC,', the bench said.

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed an FIR registered against a man by his wife accusing him of having unnatural sex with the observation that it was not an offence in law as she was wedded to him.

'This court is of considered opinion that after having come to a conclusion that the act of unnatural sex by a husband with his legally wedded wife residing with him is not an offence under Section 377 of IPC, no further deliberations are required as to whether FIR was lodged on the basis of frivolous allegations or not,' a single bench of HC comprising Justice G S Ahluwalia observed.

The order was issued on Wednesday and its details were uploaded on the HC website on Thursday.

'Marital rape has not been recognized so far. Accordingly, an FIR in Crime No.377/2022 registered at Police Station Kotwali, Jabalpur and criminal prosecution of the applicant (husband) is hereby quashed,' the order stated.

The man had filed a petition in court to quash the FIR lodged against him on the complaint of his wife.