From Sacred Bond to Consent Violation: The Call to Criminalize Marital Rape
Keywords:
From Sacred Bond, inalienable rights, India’s international commitments, emotional, marriageAbstract
From Sacred Bond to Consent Violation explores the urgent issue of marital rape and questions why Indian law still ignores consent within marriage. Rooted in colonial-era thinking, the marital rape exemption clashes with constitutional rights and India’s international commitments. The article examines the legal, emotional, and social stakes for women whose suffering remains hidden. While concerns like misuse and marital sanctity are cited in defense of the exemption, it challenges whether
these outweigh a woman’s right to dignity and safety. Ultimately, it calls for a moral and legal reckoning, urging recognition of married women as individuals with inalienable rights.
References
State of Maharashtra v Madhukar Narayan Mardikar (1991) 1 SCC 57
Independent Thought v Union of India (2017) 10 SCC 800
Nimeshbhai Bharatbhai Desai v State of Gujarat 2018 SCC OnLine Guj 732
X v State of NCT of Delhi 2022 SCC OnLine Del 1817 (Split verdict on marital rape)
Law Commission of India, ‘172nd Report on Review of Rape Laws’ (March 2000)
Justice Verma Committee, ‘Report of the Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law’ (2013)
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), ‘India Report’ (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2021)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted 18 December 1979, UNGA Res 34/180 (entered into force 3 September 1981)
Indian Penal Code 1860, s 375 Exception 2
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005
Flavia Agnes, Law and Gender Inequality: The Politics of Women’s Rights in India (OUP 1999)
Upendra Baxi, The Future of Human Rights (3rd edn, OUP 2012)
