Conjugal Relationship as an Exception to Section 375: A Legal Analysis
Author – K Varun Dev, Student at School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore.
Best Citation – K Varun Dev, CONJUGAL RELATIONSHIP AS AN EXCEPTION TO SECTION 375: A LEGAL ANALYSIS, Indian Journal of Legal Review (IJLR), 3 (1) of 2023, Pg. 707-714, ISSN – 2583-2344.
Abstract
“ A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the “husband” on the woman “wife” ”
– Observed by the Hon’ble High Court in Hrishikesh Sahoo and State of Karnataka & Ors.
Marital Rape literally means nonconsensual sexual intercourse by a person to whom the victim is married. In the Indian context, since the law defining rape does not recognize that a man can be raped, it is completely reasonable to believe that Marital Rape means nonconsensual sexual intercourse by the husband on the wife. The Indian Penal Code of 1860 which define and prescribe the punishment for rape does not recognize marital rape and explicitly mentions the same as an exception under it. This paper delves into understanding the effects of making such an act an exception under the Indian Penal Code and how it is violative of certain integral rights that are recogonized for women by the national laws and constitution as well as international conventions. Moreover, the paper also looks into how such an exception is discriminative of married women among women. This paper also tries to understand the theories behind the existence of such an exception and also the social impact of the same on the victims of Marital Rape. Furthermore, the paper also gently looks into the change in trend of judgements of courts over the time on the subject of Marital Rape inorder to understand the changes in the view of the courts with respect to this matter. Finally, the author concludes the paper by making a proposal to criminalize Marital Rape and also base the same on the fact that the pros of criminalizing Marital Rape overpower its cons.
Keywords: Marital Rape, Exception, Criminalization, Violation of Rights, Discrimination, Married Women.