Is Adultery Accosting Morality—A Dilemma to Indian Feminism?

Abstract

The stigma of Indian society has been to dominate women and be patriarchal in every way. The adultery law in India had been primitive, 155 years old under the Indian Penal code 1860. Through years of existence of penal code, a lot of laws were either amended or removed but the offence of adultery has been there being treated tantamount like other major crimes. The offence of adultery contradicts with the institution of constitutional and moral values creating a dent on the institution of marriage and harming the sanctity of the same. In reality, the law should be protecting the women in all the cases give privileges essential for them but in case of the offence of adultery it create ravages to marriage and personal identity. “Section 497 treats women as properties of their husbands and is hence manifestly discriminatory”.