Criminalisation of Marital Rape in India Kalra Kush*, Arora Belu Gupta** *Assistant Professor, NIMIMS University **Assistant Professor, University of Delhi Online Published on 09 August, 2024. Abstract Marital rape is one of the violent crimes that is comparatively underreported, not to mention the reporting of the offending conduct to the authorities. Even the women who are aware of their own suffering are reluctant to contact the authorities since they might be financially dependent on their husbands. If they report the issue, financial assistance may be withheld, depriving them and their kids of food and housing. Marital rape is against the basic principle of fundamental right which is enshrined respectively under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Marital rape violates a woman’s fundamental rights in accordance with the relevant Articles of the Constitution, unless it is specifically classified as a crime. In addition, the crime of marital rape is confined within a room and branded as a private problem, yet it is the State’s responsibility to breach these boundaries in order to protect women. In the event that the State does not speak up, a woman will still be considered a victim of this crime and, more importantly, will be deprived of her basic right to an adequate remedy. The primary need is to do away with uncertainty of laws by having a single law with objective criterion criminalizing any rape against married woman by their husbands irrespective of the age of wife. The criminalization of marital rape in general is hurdled by the protecting of the institution of family but this situation should not act as a conductive atmosphere for sexual exploitation of married women. The reform in the society is indispensable for a permanent solution as in a democracy societal interests cannot be divorced from state actions. But since such reforms cannot be seen in near future a balanced approach as provided in this paper is more compatible to the Indian society. Moreover the effective procreation of the laws is quintessential in abrogating practices detrimental to the interests of women, especially a victim of marital rape. Top Keywords Married, Rape, Reform, Criminalization, Detrimental. Top |