Section 67 punishes a husband who has sexual intercourse with his own wife while she is living separately from him, whether under a decree of separation or otherwise, without her consent. The punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term of not less than two years but which may extend to seven years, and fine. An Explanation ties "sexual intercourse," for the purposes of this section, to the same four physical acts described in Section 63, clauses (a) to (d).
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 67 to old IPC Section 376B, and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts. Note on numbering: this project's local IPC source text (the original 1860-era Code, as flagged at Sections 63 through 66) contains this same substantive provision under the section number 376A, not 376B — consistent with the renumbering flagged at Section 66, where a later amendment appears to have inserted a new Section 376A elsewhere and pushed this provision to 376B. We compare BNS 67 against our local text's "376A" content directly, since the substance clearly matches (both concern a husband's sexual intercourse with a separated wife without her consent), regardless of which number it carries in either source. Section 67 is marked Substantively changed:
| BNS 67 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | Sexual intercourse by husband upon his wife during separation | S.376B by later numbering (local source's "376A" content) — punishment enhanced, scope broadened | Substantively changed |
Comparing the bare text directly, the core conduct described is the same in both: a husband having sexual intercourse with his own wife, living separately from him, without her consent. Three precise textual deltas: first, the local IPC text limits "living separately" to separation "under a decree of separation or under any custom or usage," whereas BNS 67 broadens this to "whether under a decree of separation or otherwise" — a wider catch-all. Second, the punishment is enhanced: the local IPC text provides only a maximum of two years' imprisonment (no stated minimum), whereas BNS 67 sets a mandatory minimum of two years and raises the maximum to seven years. Third, BNS 67 adds an Explanation, absent from the local IPC text, that defines "sexual intercourse" for this section by cross-reference to the four broader physical acts described in Section 63, clauses (a) to (d), rather than leaving the term to its ordinary meaning.
Whoever has sexual intercourse with his own wife, who is living separately, whether under a decree of separation or otherwise, without her consent, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation.—In this section, “sexual intercourse” shall mean any of the acts mentioned in clauses (a) to (d) of section 63.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
This section addresses a specific situation not covered by Section 63's definition of rape, because Section 63's Exception 2 excludes a man's sexual acts with his own wife (provided she is not under eighteen) from the definition of rape altogether. Section 67 fills part of that gap for one particular circumstance: where the wife is living separately from her husband, whether under a formal decree of separation or otherwise, and does not consent to the sexual intercourse. The Explanation ties the meaning of "sexual intercourse" here to the same broad set of physical acts used to define rape in Section 63(a)-(d), so the scope of what counts as "sexual intercourse" for this section is not left to a narrower, older understanding of the term.
No. It applies only where the wife is living separately from her husband, whether under a decree of separation or otherwise.
No. The Explanation defines "sexual intercourse" for this section to mean any of the four broader physical acts described in Section 63, clauses (a) to (d), not merely the narrowest, traditional sense of the term.
It ranges from a minimum of two years' imprisonment to a maximum of seven years, of either description, along with a mandatory fine.