Recently, Supreme Court of India, while giving historic decision, has given the right of abortion to all women under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. During this decision, the court also mentioned about marital rape. In such situation, there is discussion about marital rape, whether marital rape has come under the purview of crime in India. So it’s not like that…
While pronouncing the verdict itself, the court made it clear that if a married woman becomes pregnant due to unlicensed relations, then it will be considered as rape under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act i.e. MTP and according to this law, that woman will also have abortion.
But it has to be kept in mind that the matter of bringing marital rape under the purview of crime is still in the Supreme Court. Therefore, no case can be filed against the husband as of now. That is, whether it is legal offense or not, now the Supreme Court will hear the matter.
What is Marital Rape?
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without the spouse’s consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and need not involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Although, historically, sexual intercourse within marriage was regarded as a right of spouses, engaging in the act without the spouse’s consent is now widely classified as rape by many societies around the world, repudiated by international conventions, and increasingly criminalized.
The issues of sexual and domestic violence within marriage and the family unit, and more specifically, the issue of violence against women, have come to growing international attention from the second half of the 20th century. Still, in many countries, marital rape either remains outside the criminal law, or is illegal but widely tolerated. Laws are rarely being enforced, due to factors ranging from reluctance of authorities to pursue the crime, to lack of public knowledge that sexual intercourse in marriage without consent is illegal.
