Image for representation purpose only. file | photo credit: s. subramaniam
The Supreme Court on January 16 asked the Center to file a reply on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the exception in the case of marital rape.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the apex court that the issue would have social implications and a few months back he had asked the states to share their inputs on the matter.
Explained | Marital Rape in India: History of the Legal Exception
In May 2022, the Delhi High Court gave a split verdict On decriminalizing marital rape in the country. While Justice Rajeev Shakdher struck down Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which decriminalized rape within marriage, Justice C. Hari Shankar upheld its validity. Exception 2 to section 375 states that “sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being less than fifteen years of age, is not rape”. In October 2017, the Supreme Court of India raised the age to 18 years.
The issue focuses on an exception to the rape law in the Indian Penal Code that rejects the idea of rape within marriage. Questions raised include whether a married woman has bodily autonomy. In short, should a husband accept that his wife’s “no” means no, and any offense would amount to rape.