The first provision relevant for the issue of statutory rape is Article 620 (2a) of the Criminal Code. This article stipulates that, “where the crime of rape is committed on a young woman between thirteen and eighteen years of age… the punishment shall be rigorous imprisonment from five years to twenty years”. This provision talks about the crime of rape committed on a young woman between thirteen and eighteen years of age. As a crime of rape, it requires absence of consent on the part of the victim, which is not the case in the crime of statutory rape. This provision indicates that the requirements for the prosecution of ordinary rape are needed to be met for instituting legal action against a person committing a crime of rape against a girl child, who is within the specified age limit. In order to prosecute a person for committing crime of rape under Article
620 (1) of the Criminal Code20, three requirements need to be fulfilled. First, the act must be committed against the will of the woman by the use of violence or grave intimidation; second, there should have sexual intercourse; and finally, it should be committed outside wedlock21.
As explained in the introductory part of this article, consent is not a requirement for statutory rape. If so, two questions can be raised here. First, if consent is not required, why Article 620 (2a) is formulated like that? Second, do the Criminal Code inconsistent with the provision of the Federal Family Code on the age of marriage, because of the requirement of the commission of the criminal act “out of wedlock”?
