According to the Madhya Pradesh High Court order, the woman told police her husband came to her house in 2019, soon after they were married, and committed “unnatural sex,” under Section 377 of India’s penal code. India’s Supreme Court increased marital consent from the age of 15 to 18 in a landmark judgement in 2017. The woman also accused her in-laws of mental and physical harassment “on account of nonfulfilment of demand of dowry,” the court order said. At least 18 of those women reported marital rape to the police, including 10 women who alleged rape by a former partner or husband. Four women were explicitly told by police that they could not do anything as marital rape was not a crime, the report said.

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Persons: it’s, Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia, Ahluwalia’s, Karuna Nundy Organizations: CNN, Court, Health, Government of Locations: Madhya Pradesh, India, Delhi, country’s, Government of India, Mumbai