https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=302009 The SC held that the marital exception in Section 375 IPC could not validly apply to a married girl below 18 years. It found that child marriage does not imply consent to sexual intercourse, and that the distinction between married and unmarried girl children lacked rational basis and violated constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity and bodily autonomy. The Court also held that the IPC must be harmonised with child-protective statutes, including the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, which treat every person below 18 as a child requiring protection. The exception was therefore read down so that intercourse with a wife below 18 remains punishable under the child-protection regime. en-us Wed, 11 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 29 Apr 2022 20:56:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=302009 The SC held that the marital exception in Section 375 IPC could not validly apply to a married girl below 18 years. It found that child marriage does not imply consent to sexual intercourse, and that the distinction between married and unmarried girl children lacked rational basis and violated constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity and bodily autonomy. The Court also held that the IPC must be harmonised with child-protective statutes, including the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, which treat every person below 18 as a child requiring protection. The exception was therefore read down so that intercourse with a wife below 18 remains punishable under the child-protection regime. Case-Laws Indian Laws Wed, 11 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=302009