Marital Rape: An Unseen Crime in India



a person cries


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At the age of 42, a woman was sitting in a counselling centre in Mumbai remembering each episode of beating with a stick, abused publicly, sexually abused in private parts, later treated as a slave. She said that she clung on the marriage in the name of “roof over head” for this many years as she was unable to feed herself due to poverty.

She had filed a case against her husband in 2007 for domestic violence and later in 2015, she was admitted to hospital with injuries on her private parts and doctors diagnosed it as sexual assault. But, the police did not file any complaint under the name of “pati patni ke beech ka matter”.

Yes, this was the case of marital rape which is experienced by many women in the 21st century too.  At Sneha’s counselling centre at Dharavi, 664 cases were reported of domestic violence and amongst these, 159 women reported marital rape too, but no one knew what to do with it. Marital rape is defined as the rape committed by the enforcer’s spouse. Though, the definition of the rape remains as per the Section 365 of the IPC as -

A Man Is Said to Have Committed Rape If:

He penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of a woman or makes her do so with him or any other person; or inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of a woman or makes her do so with him or any other person.

Only around 52 countries around the world have criminalized marital rape so far as marriage is considered a very sanctum bond of two people where it’s very difficult to imagine such a heinous crime against their life partner. Most of the people, even women, around the world are not even aware of this phenomenon as history suggests that women have kept subservient of men for years.
Since the times have changed a little bit now, and equality has taken a front seat for creation of any economy, this issue has started gaining its light now and it’s relevant also.

Why Marital Rape Is Such a Heinous Crime?

Well, the answer to this question is 'NO' in a different manner. When any person’s individuality or dignity is in question than it doesn’t matter the kind of bond they shared. 

Marital rape violates two basic fundamental laws provided by the constitution of India to every citizen:

1. Article 14

This article states that “[t]he State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” This type of doctrine traces its root back to the British era. When the laws enacted at that time was heavenly influenced by Victorian patriarchal laws and this exception is a conclusion of that. At that time, women were not considered as an independent entity to the extent that she cannot possess any of the assets. 

But the times have changed now. When, in a marriage, a female is mostly considered to be chattel of the man, most importantly, because that is what taught to the man in our common households of the Indian society. Since, the times are now considered to be changed, mostly men respect women in one way or the other, but they forget a very small little detail about this whole scenario is CONSENT, which often fades in marriages as time passes and deciding for the other person comes into play.

 Consent is hardly seen as a matter of a subject specially, in the case of intimate moments. Most women are unable to recognise this as a wrong deed because of the lack of importance this topic has ever received. When a woman is not earning and completely dependent on the man for everything, she is assumed to be obliged to do what her husband says and she has no say in it as, already living in a patriarchal society, makes a man think that “she is nothing without me” which dreads a woman for her fair share of the equality.

 2. Article 21

This article states that“[n]o person shall be denied of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law”. It means that law accepts the equivalent of one’s privacy with or without the marriage taken into consideration. 

When the IPC was drafted in the 1860’s married women were not as an independent entity. Hence, they did not have any fundamentals right but now they do. When a crime like rape happens in a marriage, it not only destroys the trust between two people but, also it stains a woman’s confidence and virtue for life. 

Right to live her own life by her terms is the oasis of one’s life. In Suchita Srivastava vs. Chandigarh Administration, the Supreme Court cited the right to make choices related to sexual activity with rights to personal liberty, dignity and bodily integrity.

Why This Isn’t a Law Yet Then?

There are many petitions filed with this regard in the Supreme Court, but everything takes its time and mainly two factors can be contributed in this regard:

1.Ignorance

Legislators get off the hook by making various studies of research saying that the victims generally suffer from emotional pain, trauma’s and in worst cases, continue to live their abusers. Also, as the marriage is considered a very sanctum and private space in our country, the state doesn’t want to get included in the internal affairs of the matter. But, there is a thin line between consensual sex and rape in a marriage which is supposed to be understood by our law.

So far, women are only been able to make their way to Section 498-A of the IPC which protects them against irrational sexual conduct by the husband, which does not justify the standards or measuring scale-like conduct of any sexual position denied by the women is considered as a crime? Our law has been silent on questions like these.

2. Society

The law and society have always been friendly to each other up to an extent where the decision of one is influenced by the other. The amendment in the criminal law made in 2012 was based on the fact that the public was opposing the sentencing and considered the crime as heinous and brutal against a woman.

But, when the question turns to marriage, the views of the public are largely obnoxious as an idea of treating your ‘own’ wife as an individual is very new to our patriarchal society as women always have been seen as someone who is made to take care of people, tender, full of emotions and someone who puts other’s needs above her own.

Conclusively, our constitution doesn’t make the differentiation between married and unmarried woman which is a necessity now. Hence, all the loopholes which were open before have to be sewed now so that women can feel a lot safer.


Written by - Chavi Goel

Edited by - Nidhi Verma