From Blurred Consent to Unjust Laws: The Severity behind Marital Rape

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’s report on ‘Crime in India’ in 2019 stated that about 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence. (NCRB report, 2019). Under this violence, comes the ambit of marital rape where one spouse forces the other to have sexual intercourse without consent. 

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The Constitution of India has amended Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which certifies all kinds of non-consensual sexual assault as rape. However, due to the existence of Exception 2 to Section 375, marital rape is not considered a crime if the wife is above fifteen years. There have been several petitions filed to scrape off the Exception 2 to Section 375 but those cases are pending as of now. 

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Socio-cultural aspects-

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The Indian Judiciary states they cannot criminalise this issue under the reason that there are exceptions where women have harassed their husbands and misused the law. This also endangers the lives of genuine victims. This cannot be a license for an individual to forcibly rape their spouse and not even get punished for it. In cases where women were proven guilty, the Judiciary has equally punished them as well. However, this should not be the only reason to not scrape off Exception 2. 

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The whole challenge of marital rape lies on ‘implied consent’ which is assumed that the women has already given when she was constituted in the sacrament of marriage. Most victims of marital rape have experienced no consent because the line is blurred. (Anirudh Pratap Singh, December 2020). Moreover, India is a country where customs and religious beliefs play a major role and the low literacy rate is an easy justification to get away with any crime. There are several things that stop women from speaking up against marital rapes like lack of financial empowerment and the notion of ‘a dutiful wife’ who must listen to the man, owing to the patriarchal nature of the society. 

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Needless to say, there are few citizens of the country who believe that scrapping off this act shall destroy the institution of marriage and people’s belief in marriage shall extinguish but if a law like divorce could not stop marriages from falling apart, then a law criminalising the heinous act of marital rape definitely will not. The Judiciary provides alternative remedies like the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (‘PWDVA, 2005’), Section 498A of the IPC and many laws dealing with marriage and divorce but this also enforces a lack of urgency and severity to the atrocious crime of marital rape. Yes, marital rape comes under the manifestation of domestic violence but the punishment for both cannot be the same, given that marital rape is equivalent to rape. 

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In India, two out of every five women are physically, sexually or emotionally violated in a marriage. (Pallavi Prasad, January, 2020). In fact, women are not the only victims of marital rape, men are too. However, there are no gender-neutral laws that provide justice to any victim that has forcefully undergone this crime. Just criminalising and scrapping the act will not make a difference, there needs to be a gender-neutral law enforced to punish anyone violating their spouse. Not only this, LGBTQ marriages should be given equal rights when it comes to dealing with marital rape. The law enforced should include a similar punishment for all genders. The punishment for marital rape should be as brutal as the punishment given for rape. 

Pop-culture references-

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Movies and Tv shows in India have highlighted the issue of marital rape to educate and create awareness among the general public owing to the severity and sensitivity of the issue. When a movie such as ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha' portrays the cruelty of marital rape, it vividly asserts the fact that rape is not about sex but power and takes a strong stand against patriarchy. On the other hand, ‘Parched’ shows how rural women in India are victims of several issues like child marriage, domestic violence and marital rape which can be disturbing to the eye. 

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‘Akaash Vaani’, a Bollywood film, gives its take on marital rape by showing how the husband of the female protagonist forces himself upon her despite her protests. Even movies like 'Provoked' highlights the real-life story of a women Kiranjit Ahluwalia who ended up in jail for killing her rapist husband while ‘Bulbul’ portrays the story of a five-year-old being married to a man way elder to her who sexually assaults her.

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Indian tv shows such as ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar ki’ should have been exempted for the way it depicts wives as the husband's property and normalizes marital rape. Such misogynistic thoughts influence men to behave the same way with their wives in reality. Even an antagonist in the show ‘Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka’ normalizes imposing domestic violence and marital rape onto his wife. 

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Role of citizens-

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The Government must promote the need for Education and Literacy as a pathway to solve problems. In fact, all students should be taught about the importance of Sex Education and consent. It is also the general public that must create an awareness through movies, tv shows, social media, books, columns, etc and also evolve with time, treating their spouses with equality, irrespective of their financial dependence on the other. 

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It is a known fact that cases of marital Rape are difficult to prove as the main judgement depends on the ‘women’s consent’ which further decides the fate of the trial in Court, even in cases where the women were proven guilty. The saddest reality is that women who are raped by a stranger, live with a memory of the horrible attack but a woman who is raped by her husband lives with her rapist. (Anirudh Pratap Singh, December 2020). If rape is a crime, then why not marital rape? If marital rape isn’t that big of crime, then why should one suffer it? It’s not asking for consent that makes it marital rape, it’s the assumption that consent is given that makes it marital rape.