The Indian government has requested the Supreme Court not to impose harsher criminal penalties against marital rape, while defending its stance that marital rape should have “penal consequences” but be treated more leniently than rape outside of marriage.
The Union Home Ministry filed an affidavit on Thursday in response to ongoing court proceedings brought by campaigners. The affidavit argued that applying rape charges to the institution of marriage could be “excessively harsh.” Current laws, the government claims, already address issues of sexual abuse within marriage, such as the 2005 law protecting women from domestic violence. However, this law does not impose criminal penalties.
The Indian Penal Code, introduced during the British colonial period, defines sexual acts between a husband and wife as not constituting rape. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government retained this provision in a revised penal code enacted in July, despite a decade-long challenge from activists seeking to outlaw marital rape.
The Supreme Court had sought a response from the federal government following petitions challenging the penal code’s exemption of marital rape. The case, which has faced significant delays, follows a split verdict by the Delhi High Court in May 2022, where one judge argued that forced sex within marriage could not be equated with rape by a stranger.
The government also raised concerns about the potential misuse of criminal provisions if the definition of rape is extended to include marital relations. Issues related to proof of consent in marital settings were cited as a significant challenge.
More than 10 million Indian women are estimated to be victims of spousal sexual violence, based on data from the National Family Health Survey conducted from 2019 to 2021. Six percent of married women aged 18-49 reported experiencing sexual violence by their husbands, with 18 percent stating they felt unable to refuse sex when demanded by their spouses.
India’s current laws on rape mandate a minimum 10-year sentence for offenders, but the government maintains that existing provisions for domestic violence are adequate to handle the issue of marital abuse.
