The Law Ministry will not challenge the Supreme Court verdict that having sex with a minor wife is rape, said a top Law Ministry official.

The court order will act as a deterrent against child marriage, as the punishment will now be much stricter than the violation of the child marriage law, the official said. Sexual intercourse by a man with his minor wife now attracts a jail term of 10 years under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or a life term under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

“Perhaps, there was acknowledgement of ‘social realities’. But now that has been corrected,” said a senior Law Ministry official.