Marital Rape: A Non-Criminal Offense in India
Rape is the most heinous crime committed against women. Destroy the victim not only physically but also mentally. It affects both the body and the soul;
Misbehaving with a woman’s body for sexual pleasure without her consent or performing these acts of abuse continuously is a violation not only of personal dignity but also of the dignity of the entire society. This makes rebellious thinking for one person that your body will be used forcefully for someone’s sexual pleasure.
We have strict rules to protect women from rape crimes and severe punishment is provided to perpetrators of rape. But the rate of such crimes is very high and in reality, it is on the rise of our society.
In addition to normal rape, marital rape or forced sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife is also the bitter truth of our society. Although the general conscience of society considers marital rape as a moral act, it does not consider it a serious crime;
In fact, directly or indirectly it has social acceptance in the name of the marriage imperative. The worst part is that even the country’s laws have so far not recognized marital rape as a crime and, in a sense, It provides legal approval.
What is Marital Rape?
If rape is a lineage, then marital rape is one of its species. This is done through involuntary sexual intercourse of a man against the will of his wife, either by force or through physical harm and intimidation.
The essential facts of marital rape are the relationship of husband and wife between man and woman; This makes the problem more socially relevant. Like rape, a woman does not have any consent to marital rape and sexual intercourse is performed by the man using force.
Although rape is viewed by all society as a serious crime and the laws attach great importance to punishing the rapist, But rape law provides no protection to married women.
If the woman’s husband forces her to have sex. Marital rape is not considered by all of society to be a matter of importance and gives the husband complete freedom. Married women suffering from this type of sexual violence by their own husbands have no place to go anywhere,
Due to societal pressure, a woman cannot complain about it in her family and cannot go to the police either, as marital rape is not considered a crime. Therefore, the victim has to endure all pain in silence and there is no visible remedy.
Reasons for Marital Rape
There can be many reasons for marital rape, such as the sexual perversion of the husband, the desire of the man to show his superiority over women, pathetic domestic problems, the correct demand for his marital relationship by the woman, etc.
Therefore, in summary, the main reason for this marital evil is the general gender inequality in our society. This is another aspect of our patriarchal and male-dominated system Where both married or unmarried women do not have equal rights.
In addition, it is another weapon in the hands of men to exploit and subjugate women. One of the other reasons is the traditional roles assigned to married women in our society. Society defines this role for women married in this way, husband-wife, that is, pure, loyal, and obedient woman.
Therefore, it is believed that a married woman completely follows the instructions of her husband and fulfills all his demands without question. Therefore, the concept of “good wife” is not good for women, But only good for men.
Sex is considered the most important part of women for your husband and you cannot reject them for her. His role is only to present himself and to surrender.
Economic dependence on her husband and in-laws is one of the reasons why a married woman cannot protect herself from repeated marital rape and is forced to tolerate violence.
Another reason is the lack of recognition of marital rape as a crime in legal provisions; Forcing men to continue this behavior and leave the wife for no reason.
Marital Rape and the Law
The biggest disappointment in treating marital rape disease is that it is not a crime in the eyes of the law in India. Neither the Penal Code of the Indian Law, 1860, nor the Domestic Violence Law, 2005, has a special legalization law that recognizes it as a crime.
Although marital rape is one of the most shameful and humiliating experiences for a woman, it has not been added to our legislature by amending existing legal provisions to provide protection for married women or as a special law.
Indian Penal Code and Marital Rape
I.P.C. Section 375 defines the violation. List the activities for which any criminal activity is considered rape. It also provides for the conditions defined by the scope of the violation.
A provision has been made in the law (sixth part of section 375). Sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 18 without her consent or disagreement, a girl under the age of 18 are raped. But, in the same part, there is also a provision that (attached as an exception to section 375), the husband’s sexual relations with his wife and if the wife is not less than 15 years of age, is not considered rape.
Therefore, if a girl is married and her husband has sexual intercourse with her, it will not be rape, even if she is under 18 years old, she should not be under 15 years old. Here he is critical and the law with double standards is evident: for a married girl over 15 years of age, there is no remedy against the sexual perversion of her husband.
This provision explains the great injustice against married women since it helps perverted husbands to maintain their misdeeds. And it provides no remedy to wives if they are over 15 years old.
Furthermore, sexual relations are not considered rape because the wife is under the age of 15, because the law considers it to be marital rape, but because it is related to the wife’s age.
Therefore, I.P.C. It does not recognize marital rape in any way. Even in the most talked-about criminal law amendment, the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013, no provision has been made regarding marital rape.
In addition, Section 376-B establishes that it is a crime punishable by a prison sentence of more than 2 years and a financial penalty for a man who has sexual intercourse with his wife during judicial separation without her consent.
But even here, this provision does not consider the crime described as rape. And in this case, the married couple can live separately under the decree of judicial separation. Therefore, marital rape is also not defined here.
Perhaps if we adopt a broader ideology, Marital rape can be considered a form of cruelty in Section 498-A, because cruelty indicates any kind of physical and mental harm. If it is said to be a criticism, it is far from the disposition and is taken as cruelty and not as marital rape.
The conclusion
The law establishes that, in marriage, the wife consents to her husband to fulfill all kinds of marriage obligations, including sexual relations, which he cannot later withdraw. These old rules still exist and are the main obstacle to recognizing marital rape as a crime.
It is almost impossible to stop the distortion of this marital violation without including any special legal provision. The victim of this moral crime cannot go anywhere.
Perhaps the last resort is just the judiciary. The judicial power of our country has defined labor freedom that can recognize marital rape as a serious moral and political crime that deserves severe punishment. And in some cases, the judiciary makes decisions only through judicial creativity
In one of the recent cases, it was noted: “Non-recognition of marital rape in India, a nation determined on the basis of equality, is a total double standard in law and hypocrisy, which is the center of subordination and the hegemony of women. ” In India, it is still necessary to recognize women’s rights to prevent marital rape as a key component of equality and Women have full rights over their bodies,
Identifying marital rape and abusive sexual acts and raising your voice against it is the important first step in achieving adequate equality between men and women. “Marital rape is degrading to morals and liberty and any kind of adversity sexual must be exposed, addressed, and punished. ”
But in the absence of a special legal provision, the judiciary is bound and, in its personal opinion, cannot consider a man’s forced sexual relationship with his wife as marital rape.
That is why it is necessary that our country’s legislature and the Legal Commission of India also awaken to the new and changed reality of today and more to helpless married women who continue to suffer silently in their homes without any help. Provide the necessary legal protection.
In addition, in society in general and in each household in particular, men must initiate the sentence by rejecting this type of behavior against their wife, thus sanctioning the delinquent husband for his criminal act. Couldn’t get
Such positive societal actions along with the law will give a married woman a sense of security and provide her with a grievance redress mechanism in the event of marital rape.
If the women of our country do not have any rights over their bodies and even when there is a question of sexual relations in marriage, then they will have no way of maintaining their options, then the concept of the right to equality enshrined in the constitution of our country It will remain as a dead letter.
