Cohabitation caused by man deceitfully inducing belief of lawful marriage
What this section does
Punishes a man who deceives a woman into believing she is lawfully married to him and thereby induces her to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with him in that false belief. The offence is complete when the woman acts on the deceit-induced belief. Only men can be the offender under this section.
AI-generated plain-language summary. For the binding statutory text, see India Code (official).
Quick reference
- Punishment
- Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, and fine.
- Triable by
- Sessions Court
- Cognizable
- Yes
- Bailable
- No
- Compoundable
- No
Ingredients (what prosecution must prove)
- The accused is a man
- He caused the woman to believe she was lawfully married to him
- That belief was induced by deceit
- The woman is not in fact lawfully married to him
- The woman cohabited with or had sexual intercourse with him in that belief
Derived from IPC s.493.
Read the official text
For the binding statutory text of BNS Section 81, refer to the Gazette of India or the India Code official website.
Why this matters
BNS Section 81 forms part of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which replaced the Indian Penal Code 1860 on 1 July 2024. Any new filing, FIR, charge sheet, or bail application made on or after that date should cite the new section number. References to the old act in legacy documents remain valid for matters that arose before the changeover.