Why in news?
The Centre has pleaded for not criminalising marital rape in an affidavit filed in response to pleas seeking its criminalisation.
What is the case about?
- Section 375 of the IPC dealing with rape holds an exception that “sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape”
- No other statute or law recognises marital rape, and victims only have recourse to civil remedies provided under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
- Presently, the Delhi High Court is hearing petitions seeking the declaration of exception under Section 375 of the IPC as unconstitutional.
- This is on the ground that it discriminated against married women being sexually assaulted by their husbands.
- The Justice Verma committee, formed in the wake of the 2012 Delhi gangrape, had also recommended removing the exception.
What is the centre's rationale in arguing for decriminalisation?
- The centre argues that criminalising marital rape would destabilise the institution of marriage and be an easy tool for harassing the husbands.
- It has cited the observations of the SC and various HCs on growing misuse of Section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of IPC.
- It has highlighted that the decision on girl’s minimum age as 15 years to marry was taken under the amended rape law to protect a couple against criminalisation of their sexual activity.
- Also, as of now, marital rape has not been defined in a statute or law, while only the offence of rape is defined under Section 375 of the IPC.
- Centres, thus, emphasizes that defining marital rape would call for a broad based consensus of the society as the perceptions on this broadly differs.
- Also, merely deleting the exception to Section 375 may not stop marital rape but widespread moral and social awareness can only prove to be solution.
- It also mentioned that criminal law was in the Concurrent List and implemented by the states, the cultures of which are varied to a large extent which have to be factored in.
- It referred to the reports of the Law Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee saying they did not recommend criminalisation of marital rape.
Source: The Hindu
