“Unnatural
Sex” Law Being Reconsidered in India

The Bombay high court said last week that the controversial Section 377 of Indian Penal Code that deals with "unnatural sex" needs revision.

The remarks came in a judgment delivered by Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice Sharad Bobde last Wednesday.

"It is high time that the provisions of law, which was made more than a century ago, is looked at again,'' said Nazki in his legal brief, reports PinkNews.

This is the first time any court in the country has spoken about changing the law. Section 377 was enacted in 1860 under the British Raj in line with sodomy laws in England at the time. The law threatens with imprisonment anyone who "voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal." The measure criminalizes a whole range of sexual acts from mutual masturbation to fellatio and anal sex. (The Advocate)