Constitutional Validity of Marital Rape in India with respect to Section 375 of Indian Penal Code, 1860

Marital Rape refers to unwanted intercourse by a man with his wife obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent. Even though, Marital rape is a very heinous and atrocious crime, still it has not been criminalized in a number of jurisdictions, with India being one of them. This paper attempts to highlight the core issues of Marital Rape by highlighting the history, the role of our current society and various judicial pronouncements, which has led to the current problem of Marital Rape in our Society by not addressing the issue properly, and in a sense turning a blind eye to it by the Courts. This paper, along with addressing the issue of Marital Rape, also attempts to provide suggestions in order to guide the Legislature and to create awareness about such a grievous issue, which is still treated as a Taboo in the Indian society instead of a heinous crime, leading to a regressive state of development of the society as a whole instead of progressive. This Paper attempts to bring to light the current scenario of the Indian Criminal Jurisprudence