Marital rape is a non-criminalized crime in our country. This afternoon (Wednesday — August 26, 2021), a notification popped up saying, “sexual intercourse by husband, not rape, even if by force: Chhattisgarh HC”.

I was alarmed by the news. You will allege this to be a piece of non-surprising one, but for me, it was.
As a country, we have overcome domestic violence/abuse (to a certain extent) but not marital rape.

The basic definition of marital rape would be the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without their consent. It is a form of domestic abuse yet not considered a crime. The lack of consent plays an essential role in marital relationships as well.

Being legally wedded doesn’t imply any form of consent. And, of course, this is an arduous thing to understand for all men out there.

The court upheld the charges against the accused husband under Section 377 (unnatural offences) and Section 498A/34 (relating to cruelty to women). But charges under Section 376 (punishment of rape) were said to be illegal/erroneous.

We do not have a law that justifies marital rape, and hence, the charges were deemed illicit under Section 376.

According to several experts and lawyers, this exception (or what we should call an exclusion) created by Section 375 violates the fundamental rights of equality and dignity of women. Because of this exception, many grievances don’t stand up to legal scrutiny.

Unsurprisingly, India is one of the 32 countries where marital rape is not a crime.

Also, as per the UN Population Fund, more than two-thirds of married women in India (aged 15 to 49) have been beaten or forced to provide sex, regardless of their socio-economic positions.

And why this is ludicrous is because the husband knows his wife in person. He knows when she would be comfortable and what would make her feel comfortable. Anything beyond her comfort zone is personal abuse.

This is an unjust way of disempowering women.

In August 2021, the Kerala HC had held that marital rape is a reasonable ground for divorce (even though it is not penalized in India) — the HC called it “cruelty”. When one court can grant a divorce on the understanding of marital rape as a form of cruelty — then why can’t others. And why can’t the government work on this subject?

Rape is rape — adding the word marital or marriage before it doesn’t change the meaning.

Imagine, an unmarried woman has to live with that episode for years (throughout her life). Think about a married woman — she has to live with the rapist.