Rape is rape even if perpetrated by husband, says court

An act of sexual assault on the wife, albeit by the husband, cannot but be termed a rape, the Karnataka HC observed on Wednesday. “A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man, the ‘husband’, on the woman, the ‘wife’,” the court held while refusing to interfere with the proceedings initiated against the accused husband vis-a-vis charges of rape, cruelty, criminal intimidation and also offences under Pocso Act in connection with alleged sexual acts.