Time to criminalise marital rape

Doing away with the exception to marital rape would show non-tolerance by the state with respect to rape

The recent judgments of two High Courts on marital rape made headlines. Though neither of the Courts delved into the constitutionality of marital rape, their reference to it once again raked up debate on whether Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code is constitutional or not. According to Exception 2, sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife (provided she is over the age of 18) does not amount to the offence of rape.

The Kerala High Court held that acts of sexual perversions of a husband against his wife amounted to (mental) cruelty and was therefore a good ground to claim divorce (since marital rape is not a punishable offence). The Court said that in modern social jurisprudence, spouses are treated as equal partners and a husband cannot claim any superior right over his wife either with respect to her body or with reference to her individual status.