Revisiting Sexual Autonomy: A Constitutional and Structural Analysis of Rape Laws and the Marital Rape Exception in India

Sexual violence is still a problem in India’s criminal justice system even after many changes to the law over the past 40 years. The law on rape has changed a lot from being very restrictive when it was first introduced in the Indian Penal Code in 1860 to being more focused on consent with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. These changes show an effort to make sure the law matches the country’s promises of equality, dignity and personal freedom. Important court cases, like Tukaram v. State of Maharashtra and the reaction to the 2012 Delhi gang rape have helped people understand consent, control over ones body and sexual crimes better. However even though the law now has definitions and stricter punishments there are still problems with how the law is structured and applied, which stops it from being as effective as it could be. This paper looks closely at whether the current rape law protects peoples sexual freedom as promised by Articles 14 15 and 21 of the Constitution. It pays attention to the fact that marital rape is still not considered a crime, which raises big questions about equality, privacy and individual dignity. The analysis also looks at the problems with how the law's put into practice such as poor investigations difficulties with evidence low rates of conviction and social and cultural barriers that make it hard for survivors to get justice. Using an analytical approach this study argues that while changing the law has made the rules stronger making sure the law follows the constitution requires more than just harsher punishments. The paper concludes that to make rape law match the country ‘s values it is necessary to recognize the importance of sexual autonomy in marriage and to make the criminal justice system more focused, on survivors.