'However Brutal The Husband Is, Can Sex Be Called Rape': Supreme Court On Marital Rape

Apart from asking a man accused of rape if he wants to marry the survivor, the Supreme Court made another questionable remark in a separate case.

Supreme Court stayed the arrest of a man accused of rape by his former partner, asking "... however brutal the husband is... when two people (are) living as husband and wife... can sexual intercourse between them be called rape?"

The apex court also stressed that nobody - man or woman - could make "false promises" to lead another into marriage, stating such act as "wrong".

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde's query of whether sexual intercourse between a lawfully wedded man and wife can be termed as rape, ignited the longstanding debate surrounding consent in marriage.

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¡°Can you call it rape?¡±

The woman, in an FIR filed in 2019, alleged rape because the accused Vinay Pratap Singh had told her that he would marry her, however he wed another person.

"Making false promise (of) marriage is wrong. No one should give false promise - either man or woman. Even women should not give promise...," Bobde said.

The Chief Justice added: "If a man and woman are living together, however insincerely... as man and wife... The man may be brutal and may do many wrongs (but) can you call it rape?"

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Singh, in his petition, had asked the FIR to be quashed because in the tenure of their relationship, the couple had consensual sexual intercourse. His lawyer told the court that there was no marriage and it was just a relationship.

However, the woman's lawyer refuted this claim saying Singh had promised to marry her and that a marriage ceremony was held at a temple in Manali.

The court, for now, has granted protection to Singh from arrest for eight weeks and directed him to apply for regular bail.