Bihar, January 24: The Superintendent of Police (SP) of Bihar's Bagaha district has directed all the Station House Officers (SHO) to consider cases involving physical relationship with wife below 18-year-old as rape. The senior police official has also asked to take stern action against such criminals.

This comes in accordance of Supreme Court's amendment of Exception 2 of Section 375 of Indian Panel Code (IPC). In October last year, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a man indulging in sex with his wife aged between 15 to 18 years could be prosecuted for rape on a complaint by her. The top court had also mentioned that the age of consent can't be lower than 18.