In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has ruled that sexual intercourse with a wife below 18 years of age is rape. With this ruling the court ended an exception in the law for men married to girls who are underage but above 15. The petitioner in this case, Independent Thought, had argued that there is a conflict in the law for sexual intercourse with underage girls and with girls who are married. Is this the first step on the road leading to the criminalisation of marital rape?
