Marital Rape As An Offence ? Centre Says Large Hearing Of All Stakeholders Is Required

Marital Rape offence: The central government says that marital rape cannot be simply be made into an offence as the principles of natural justice requires a large hearing of all stakeholders. The government notified the Delhi High Court that the decision will be taken by comprehensively amending the criminal law rather than making "piecemeal" changes.

On 13 Jan, an affidavit was filed in the Delhi High Court which stated that Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, excluded the forced sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife from the offence of rape, cannot be struck down merely at the instigation of the petitioner alone.

Further, the affidavit filed by the Union ministry of home affairs said that the suggestions from chief ministers of all state governments and union territories, Chief Justice Of India, chief justices of all the high courts, judicial academies, national law universities, bar council of India, bar council of all high courts and members of both houses of parliament, views have been invited but the date regarding the same has not been mentioned.

“The government has already undertaken a comprehensive exercise to make amendments in the criminal laws and thus, the government is already seized of the matter. The petitioners are also at liberty to give their submissions/suggestions to the Ministry,” stated the affidavit

Why legalising Marital Rape is important? 

“Marital rape is a crime of cruelty in India. Married women and unmarried women are different under every single law,” said Nandita Rao, the Delhi government's lawyer

Gonsalves said, “Marital rape is the biggest form of sexual violence which happens in the confines of our homes. How many times does rape take place in the institution of marriage and is never reported? This figure is not reported or analysed. He said that neither the families nor the police came to help the marital rape survivors.

Oorjasvi Goswami told SheThePeople that marital law in India still comes under the presumption that "if a woman is a wife she has to be okay with having sex with her husband" 

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