A woman in Birmingham has been told she faces jail if she has sex with her mentally disabled husband because he does not have the capacity to consent to sex. The woman was warned by a judge at the Court of Protection that she faces life in prison if she does have sex with him. Despite being told of the sex ban, the woman begged Mr Justice Holman not to annul their marriage – being a Sikh, she said it would be “culturally impossible” to take a new partner and would be consigned to spinsterhood, as well as facing ostracism in her community.
The woman, originally from Punjab, wed the man through an arranged marriage. His late father, who was a leading figure in the Sikh community in Britain, was the driving force behind the marriage.
She went along with the marriage as an “obedient daughter” and did not meet him until their wedding day. After the ceremony, she said she noticed he did not behave “like a normal person”. She said they had sex on their wedding night and a few times after. The woman moved to England to be closer to her husband, who is cared for at a local authority home in the West Midlands. She visits several times a week and the court heard how they take pleasure in one another’s company.
Tragic position
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council had sought to have the marriage annulled because the man lacked the capacity to consent to the marriage. However, in what is thought to be the first ruling of its kind, the judge decided the couple could stay married. He said he could see no benefits in ending it, but noted that arranged marriages of these kinds should not be tolerated in general circumstances.
