There were enough regulations to protect married women from sexual abuse, the federal home ministry told the Supreme Court, but “a man does not have a fundamental right” to force sex on his wife.
A statute from the British era that states a man cannot be charged for rape committed during a marriage is being challenged in the top court.
In India, marital violence is commonplace; a recent government poll found that 25% of women had experienced sexual abuse at the hands of their husbands.
More than 100 nations have made marital rape illegal, including the United Kingdom, which made it a crime in 1991.
However, India is still one of the thirty-six nations—along with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia—where the legislation is still in effect.
Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which has been in force since 1860, has been the target of several petitions filed in recent years. “By a man with his own wife” if she is not a minor is one of the “exemptions” listed in the law, which designates circumstances in which having intercourse is not considered rape.
