Sec 377: Men fear being framed by Women

Oral And Anal Sex A Criminal Offence Under Law Upheld By SC

 • A twenty-something woman in the city, barely a year into her marriage, kept a record in her diary of the number of times she had anal and oral sex -- described by Victorian law-makers as being ‘against the order of nature.’ The diary filled up fast. She soon filed for divorce on grounds of cruelty but didn’t go into the details. This was about ten years ago. 

• Earlier this year, a fortysomething woman four years into an extra-marital relationship with a 60-year-old man filed a case against him alleging unnatural sex soon after her husband learnt about the relation. She claimed she had agreed to unnatural sex only under threat. 

    The first case ended in a divorce through mutual consent; the second landed the man, a resident of a Mumbai suburb, in jail. His bail plea has been rejected once already. 

    It’s not just gay sex that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises. The Supreme Court’s unequivocal declaration that every consensual sexual act barring peno-vaginal intercourse forms a criminal offence under the section has sparked concerns even among heterosexual couples. The fear is greater among men because, although the section is genderneutral, it explains that ‘penetration’ is sufficient to constitute an offence. Thus, even oral sex would be punishable, even if it is consensual. 

    A senior criminal lawyer said the SC judgement penned by G S Singhvi upholding the constitutional validity of Section 377, along with a recent judgement of a constitution bench that the police have a mandatory duty to register a Frist Information Report (FIR) on receiving any information which discloses a cognisable offence, can result in the section being misused. 

    An offence can be registered against any person, including a woman involved in an act of unnatural sex. A complaint can be filed by anybody, and as can be seen in the Tarun Tejpal case, an FIR can be registered suo motu by the police based on ‘credible’ information coming from any source. 

    Lawyer Swapnil Kothari said, “Section 377 is an antiquated legislation capable of being abused by a girlfriend who has been cheated. She could file a criminal complaint against her unfaithful boyfriend saying he had anal sex, albeit consensual.”

    Psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria said, “It is common for couples to indulge in oral sex and be sexually experimental as long as they are comfortable with each other and there is no element of force.” 

    However, it is possible that police stations may now receive midnight calls with complaints of unnatural sex from women against husbands or boyfriends, she said. 

    Women earlier were “diffident” and did not like to disclose the different forms of sexual intercourse within their marriage, said family law advocate Mridula Kadam. 

    “They would be made to feel dirty and were not sure who to turn to or lacked courage to lodge a complaint, just as they would not report a rape,” she added.

( From Times of India )