Marital Rape! Is It Even A Crime?

Rape! A inhuman crime which terrorises us to the core. But still we ignore one aspect of this threatening crime which is very common especially in Indian society which is marital rape. Marital rape is when one partner enforces himself or herself on the other partner for sex without consent of the other. Marital rape is very much present in the society and the problem is that maximum Indians are in support of it.

According toSection 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) considers the forced sex in marriages as a crime only when the wife is below age 15. This thus, marital rape is not a criminal offence under the IPC. This helps people getaway with one of the most gruesome crime with no repercussions to suffer. Many say if there is a law against marital rape then one can easily file fraud case and can seek money from the partner. As the law doesn't stop the crime and due to the structure Indian society this crime is not to be consider immoral or more specifically WRONG. This loophole in the law is a clear chit for the offender to be an animal and to feel nice about it.

The build up of the Indian society also supports the offence as they believe even consensual sex before marriage is NOT OKAY but non consensual sex after marriage is OKAY. As the majorly affected group are the females they are often suppressed and are made feel that it is okay if the husband rapes them. Not only the people around them but the families of the victims do not support the victim. This is also caused due to lack of education around the community as people are not even aware of the fact that non consensual sex after marriage is also rape. Not only the lower class but every part or aspect of society is suffering through this.

This also shows the behavioural problem of men towards women as many feel very masculine about raping their wives and feel proud out of their partners resistance. Due to the support of the society they are unaware that consent is important and cannot hear a NO from their wives as it becomes a question on their ego or self esteem. The problem is also caused due to way they are brought up as they are taught that they can only have sex after marriage and women are inferior to them and should listen to men race.

Due to deep rootedness in the society of the crime it is very hard to get it out as people alot need to be aware and for a change there should be laws protecting the victims. This is taking away the basic human rights in lawful way from the suffered one. This should be brought up in front of masses to make them familiar with the offend so that at least there is exposure and people indulged in it can seek help as many NGOs are providing shelter and moral support to the victims of the crime. Many NGOs like Hridaya are trying to reform the judiciary system to make it a criminal offence but still there is a long way to go.

In conclusion at an individual level we should stop us as well others to not commit any sort of crime like this also make our surrounding aware about it. Sympathise with the victim and tell them its not okay to have sex without consent and its not their fault because marriage is not a license for sex only consent is license of sex.