The Indian Supreme Court is scheduled to hear all petitions related to the constitutionality of the ‘marital rape exemption’ on May 9, 2023, and has requested the Indian government’s position on the matter.
The court will examine whether non-consensual sexual intercourse by a husband with his wife should be considered a punishable offense. While the debate over criminalizing marital rape in India continues, some activists argue that men’s rights should not be ignored, as criminalizing marital rape may be used by some women to file false complaints against their husbands.
Marital rape refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse by a husband on his wife and may include physical or verbal threats.
According to exception 2 of section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, sexual intercourse between a man and his wife who is not under the age of 15 is not considered rape.
The new hearing comes after the Delhi High Court issued a split verdict on the criminalization of marital rape last year. Justice C. Hari Shankar had stated that the rape law exception is not unconstitutional, while Justice Rajiv Shakdher, who headed the division bench, had favored striking down the marital rape exception, stating that it would be tragic if a married woman’s plea for justice is not heard.
Despite the split verdict, the judges granted the certificate of leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, as the case had ‘substantial questions of law.’ In December of last year, the Karnataka High Court made a significant decision in a case of marital rape, rejecting a husband’s plea to have the pending rape charges against him dismissed.
A charge against him was made by his wife under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code. The Karnataka High Court stated that the institution of marriage should not be construed to confer any special male privilege or a license for unleashing a brutal beast and that if it is punishable to a man, it should be punishable to a man, albeit the man being a husband.
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