MARITAL RAPE IN INDIA

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will examine marital rape case after constitution benches conclude hearing some listed pleas.

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Context: A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will examine marital rape case after constitution benches conclude hearing some listed pleas.

SC will examine that does a husband enjoy immunity from prosecution for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sex?
The constitutional validity of an exception clause of Section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is under challenge as it exempts a husband from being prosecuted for rape for having non-consensual sexual intercourse with the spouse if she happens to be an adult.

Marital rape in India

Marital rape (or spousal rape) is an act in which one of the spouses indulges in sexual intercourse without the consent of the other.
In India, marital rape is not defined in any statute or law.
Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) defines rape as a criminal offence and states that a man commits rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent or if she is a minor.
However, according to Exception 2 to Section 375 “sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape
However, in a landmark judgment in 2018, the Supreme Court of India held that it will be considered rape if a man has sexual intercourse with his wife if she is aged between 15 and 18
The only recourse against non-consensual sex for married women are civil provisions under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act or Section 498-A of the IPC on cruelty against a wife by the husband or a husband’s relatives.
Today, more than 100 countries have criminalized marital rape but, unfortunately, India is one of the only 36 countries where marital rape is still not criminalized.