The Indian Penal Code of 1860 communicates that in a marriage there is implied consent for sexual intercourse, which cannot be said otherwise. Section 375 of the IPC. states that penetration sans informed consent would be categorised as rape. However, Exception 2 to the same section discriminates against married women by refusing them equal protection from rape and sexual harassment. This categorisation is directly violative of the test of reasonable classification provided under Article 14 of the Constitution.
India is one of those nations which are top listed and crime against women. Government is constantly taking steps to reduce crime against women but one of the major issue in India is getting undermined by the government itself, that is marital rape or the action of forcing your spouse to have sex without proper consent.
Basically India was a patriarchal society but non criminalisation of marital rape begin from British era when IPC was formed for the first time in 1860s by laws like Doctrine of Coverture which merged identity of women with that of husband. And now according to section 375 definition of rape is all forms of non consensual intercourse with the woman is considered under rape. But exception 2 of section 375 exempts it for married women which is somewhere an act of undermining dignity of women and their human rights.
non criminalisation of marital rape violates many legal and constitutional rights like violation of Article 21 which is right to health privacy and safe living conditions, it is not so as their husband can force them to have sex and article 14 right to equality but again it is violated as for a unmarried women it is a rape to have sex without their consent but for a married one it is not. Therefore criminalisation of marital rape immunizes the confidence of men to do to such inhumane activities with their wives.
According to the crime reports of NCRB 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence. Many of the politicians are also involved in such inhumane action.But now the legislature should take actions and criminalize such act. They are not doing so because they think India is a male dominating society and and such an action would reduce the number of votes to that party few thinks women may start putting fraud cases on men but it is not so as in today’s advancement in medical science and technology can reach the roots of fraud cases in a very short time. So law should be made to criminalize marital rape to provide women equal dignity and human rights as that of men.
Rape is a heinous crime against a woman, her dignity and her self-esteem.It is one of the most terrible crime on the earth.Rape is rape whether a woman is raped by her husband or by a complete stranger but our law do not recognize forced cohabitation within marriage as rape. It is disgraceful that India still legalise rape within marriage and protect the rapist husband from prosecution.Allowing non-consensual intercourse inside a marriage is a complete violation of a woman’s right to her body and her dignity.Rape is a crime of such nature that it not only affects the ordinary right of a woman but also the fundamental right.The concept of marital rape goes beyond the virtues of Article 21 right to live with human dignity,it violates the right to good health of the victim (as it is the part of art 21). It also violates Article 14 as it creates a classification between married and unmarried women and denies equal protection.By discriminating rape within a marriage the marital rape exemption violates the right to privacy of a married woman.
The most obstacle in the way of India criminalizing marital rape is the union government itself.The government has continued to protect the rapist husband by giving reasons such as it’s against Indian culture and it will creates anarchy in families. Women will misuse any law against marital rape.Due to fake cases of rape,the judiciary and legislature fears the misuse of rape laws, but with effective measures and medical operations performed by our doctors, justice can be done.
Indian law-makers missed an opportunity to criminalise marital law.They failed to address sexual abuse of women at the hands of thier husband. To protect the women,her dignity the legislature primarily needs to remove the difference between marital rape and stranger rape.We can’t allow such heinous crime,that too inside a marriage.Women should be respected and their dignity shall be protected.We should treat them with kindness and respect their dignity
Yes,but if the misuse of law is the only reason for not considering marital rape a crime then there are many cases of misuse of laws in crimes like dowary, domestic violence, kidnapping and rape in general.So on that ground law on these crimes should be also nullified.See,all crimes are hard to prove without witnesses but this is not a reason for making a crime”unprosecutable”.
Our government is pathetic and so are we.We all need to understand “Rape is rape”
Marital Rape: A Non-criminalized Crime in India (harvardhrj.com)
