Phulmoni Dasi was a ten-year-old Bengali girl with a 30-year-old husband named Hari Mohan Maiti.
[5] The husband was convicted under Section 338 of the Indian Penal Code for "causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others".
[2] Under an exception clause in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, introduced in 1860, sex with one's own wife was not considered rape.
[6] As Phulmoni was of legal age and married to Maiti, he was sentenced to 12 months of hard labor.
After the bill was passed on 29 March 1891, the Section 376 included sex with a girl under 12 even if the person is the wife of the perpetrator, as rape.