Can sex with wife below 18 yrs attract POCSO: SC asks Centre

Can sex with wife, who is above 15 and below 18 years of age, be termed as sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the event of glaring inconsistency with IPC which does not hold it as rape, the Supreme Court on Thursday posed this question to the Centre.

Section 375 (rape) of IPC has an exception clause which says “sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape.” 

Section 5 (n) of POCSO says that sexual intercourse with a child below 18 years is an “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” inviting penal consequences.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar considered the inconsistency highlighted by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi through his NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan and asked the Centre to consider their representation and file its response in four months.

The bench also comprising Justices N V Ramana and D Y Chandrachud asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development to consider the representation of the NGO, examine it and file the detailed report on the issue. “If you are still unhappy with the response, you are at liberty to approach the court,” the bench said.