Satisfying carnal desires sans wife's consent is rape, says Karnataka High Court

The single-judge bench of the Karnataka HC was hearing a case filed by a woman against her husband for treating her as a 'sex slave' ever since they were married. The husband has been accused of forcing his wife into unnatural sex in the presence of their daughter too. The High Court has upheld the serious allegations levelled by the wife against her husband.

Bengaluru:Equating sexual assault by a husband on his wife with rape, the Karnataka high court (HC) has refused to quash proceedings against a man accused of alleged rape by his wife. "A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man, the 'husband', on the woman, 'wife'," said Justice M. Nagaprasanna on Wednesday.

The single-judge bench of the Karnataka HC was hearing a case filed by a woman against her husband for treating her as a 'sex slave' ever since they were married. The husband has been accused of forcing his wife into unnatural sex in the presence of their daughter too. The High Court has upheld the serious allegations levelled by the wife against her husband. The petition filed by Hrishikesh Sahu and three others on the same issue has been dismissed.

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This is the case of an Odisha-born couple living in Bengaluru. The 43-year-old husband had made sex with his 27-year-old wife as he treated her like a slave. The case involves a woman, who told the court that her husband, had treated her like a sex slave right from the start of their marriage. Describing her husband as "inhuman", she alleged that she had been forced to have unnatural sex, even in front of her daughter, by him. The police had conducted a detailed investigation into the case and submitted a charge sheet to the High Court. At this point, the police had made a significant point about 'this is a forced rape'. Following this, her husband filed a petition to the High Court to drop the rape charge.

The wife levelled allegations of rape against him. Hrishikesh Sahu filed a petition in the Court to cancel it. The lawyer for the accused husband had argued that her husband was exempted from rape under Section 376 of the IPC. But, the High Court dismissed the application, saying it was rape. The court made it clear that it would have a psychological and physical impact on the wife.

Marital rape, the court pointed out, is illegal in 50 American states, three Australian states, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia and several other countries. It is rape if the husband has a physical relationship with his wife against her will. Justice M Nagaprasanna made it clear that there is no discrimination between a woman and a wife in this regard.

"Woman and man being equal under the Constitution cannot be made unequal by any exception to Section 375 (rape) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code). It is for the lawmakers to ponder over the existence of such inequalities in law," the High Court said.