Marital Rape: A Critical Analysis of Sec. 375, Exception (2)

During the last decade, the reporting of rape cases have drastically increased, owing to which there have often been demands for stringent laws to deal with the rape offenders. However, people have overlooked one of the most under-reported forms of forceful sexual intercourse i.e. marital rape. The codified laws provide protection against marital rape only in only two circumstances, namely, when the wife is minor or when the husband and wife are living separately, thus leading to non-reporting of the cases. Recently, the Indian judiciary has been making attempts to grant some relief to the victims of marital rape, but the offence has not been able to find its place in the penal laws due to various societal factors. On these lines, the article analyses various factors and discusses the responses put forward by major reformative bodies in respect of marital rape.