Any kind of forced sexual intercourse with a person without his/her prior consent is known as rape and is a crime, irrespective of the relationship between the victim and criminal. It does not matter if the person raping is a stranger, relative, father, brother or a husband of the person being raped. Then why India remains one of the 36 countries where a husband raping his wife is not considered a criminal offence?! What is holding India back from criminalizing marital rape?
Well, it’s the our Union Government itself! Each time several petitions have been handed over to the supreme court and the high court regarding the criminalization of marital rape, our government have continued to protect our men who rape their wives citing that its ‘against our Indian culture’. So in simpler terms what they exactly mean is that, according to our Indian culture it is okay for a man to rape a woman- as long as they are married. They have often criticized those who raised their voice against martial rape saying that it is wrong of them to ‘blindly’ follow the west, without considering the cultural and socio-economic differences between the regions. The government argues that if somehow they criminalize marital rape, then a majority of marriages will fall apart because women will start standing up against their Rapist Husbands. So, the government cares about the fall of marriages over the integrity and rights of our women! They believe that once a woman is married, she automatically transfers her sexual consent to her husband. It is 2022, and marital rape has still not been criminalised in our country and year after year women have been raped by their own husband but they have not been able take any legal action. And it is at no cost, okay!