India, Feb. 12 -- Raipur A 40-year-old man who allegedly indulged in brutal unnatural sex with his wife, which eventually led to her death, has been exonerated by the Chhattisgarh high court on the grounds that a man cannot be prosecuted for marital rape in India.

In his judgment on Monday, a single-judge bench of justice Narendra Kumar Vyas set aside the conviction of an accused, acquitting him of all charges under sections 376 (rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) and 304 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and ordered his immediate release from jail.

The high court verdict cited Exception 2 under Section 375 of IPC, which exempts a husband from prosecution for raping his wife, underscoring the continued legal immunity afford...