Broken Promises, Criminal Penalties: Section 69 BNS and the Legalization of Failed Relationships
This paper critically examines Section 69 of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023. This new criminal law made a significant innovation in the jurisprudence of laws related to sexual crimes. This section deals with the gray area of law, which is consent. Consent is very personal to the victim, but its significance is such that it is a thin line between voluntary sexual intercourse and rape. The provision aims to protect women at the same time, but the law also leaves a gap in defining consent. Conditional Consent is the most vulnerable factor of this section. This section says that any voluntary sexual intercourse can retrospectively punish a man with imprisonment up to 10 years. Section 69, its jurisprudence and interpretation, is the interplay between sexual autonomy, misuse, and state intervention.
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