Marital Rape and Draconian Indian Laws: A Blatant Transgression of Right to Life, Liberty and Dignity of the Wife

The term Marriage has been defined by various sociologists and jurists time and again, yet the pith of it has remained pristine throughout. It implies the union of two souls. The sanctity of every relationship including the institution of marriage is built around trust, understanding, love, and consent. The thread that holds the bonding firmly is the mutual understanding and the consent of the two individuals. But the very foundation of this sacred institution gets disintegrated the moment trust and consent dissipate. Martial rape or to be more precise, non-consensual sexual intercourse is certainly the menace that jeopardizes the basic human rights of the wife especially her right to life, dignity, liberty, and her right to say no. The lacunae present in the Indian laws because of which such a menace as marital rape is perpetuated and immunized from penalization reverberate the archaic patriarchal notions that regard the wife as the property of her husband and also exemplify that marriage is nothing but a license given to the husband to satiate his desires by meting out inhumane treatment to his wife. This paper will strive to throw light upon the ongoing contentions revolving around marital rape laws in India while discussing the latest judicial pronouncements, the constitutionality of the non-criminalization of marital rape and it'll also attempt to underscore the need for an amendment in light of the existing legislations on marital rape in other countries. This paper will also discuss the public-private dichotomy and how marital rape in India is still viewed as a domestic violence. In the end, this paper will attempt to draw an outline of the probable roadmap and the way forward that can safeguard the victim's basic fundamental and human rights from this menace.