The high court held that sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being under the age of 15, is not rape and that any "unnatural sex" as defined under section 377 can't be treated as an offence.
The sections that deal with rape in both IPC and BNS exclude acts of non-consensual sexual intercourse by a husband with his wife, with the former setting the age limit of the woman at 15 and the latter raising it to 18.
The Indian government under prime minister Narendra Modi last year officially opposed calls to classify non-consensual sexual acts in a marriage as "rape", arguing the move could have an impact on conjugal relationships and disturb the institution of marriage.
The woman in her dying declaration before a magistrate reportedly said that she fell ill due to "forceful sexual intercourse" by her husband, believed to be non-consensual acts of anal penetration.
It means, forced sexual intercourse with a wife over 18 years of age is not considered rape under current Indian law.
