Activists Now Urge SC to Act on Section 377, Marital Rape

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With hopes high after the Supreme Court banned instant Triple Talaq on 22 August, activists urged the apex court to also take steps to decriminalise homosexuality and penalise marital rape.

While the issue of Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises homosexuality, is pending before the top court, the Supreme Court is reluctant to make marital rape a criminal offence.

“The Triple Talaq verdict should open people’s minds to more progressive laws,” LGBTQ rights activist Harish Iyer said.

Also Read: Triple Talaq: 5 Judges, 3 Views, 1 Order, But Why No Clarity?

Any step in the direction of liberty for the most marginalised should be seen as a wave that all allied causes can ride on. The verdict should open our minds to more progressive laws, including removing Section 377.

Harish Iyer, LGBT Activist

Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, took to Twitter to call for a review on Section 377.

“Dear SC, after this will you please hold marital rape, including of minor wives, unconstitutional, undo regressive verdict on it,” added Kavita.

Also Read: Snatch Away Basic Choice? What it’ll Take to Decriminalise Sec 377

The Supreme Court ruling on Triple Talaq was pronounced on a petition filed two years ago by Shayara Bano, a woman from Uttarakhand whose husband of 15 years sent her a letter with talaq written three times on it. Similar petitions filed by four other women were heard with Bano’s petition.

“We welcome the SC judgement. Triple Talaq is a discriminatory practice that violates women’s right to equality, and has devastated the lives of many Muslim women,” said the programmes director at Amnesty International India, Asmita Basu.

She urged the government to repeal all religious family laws that violated women’s right to equality.

Earlier in the day, in a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of instant divorce through Triple Talaq among Muslims was "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

Also Read: Meet the Women Who Battled Tradition, Triple Talaq & Patriarchy

The apex court said the practice went against the tenets of the Quran.

Activist Jagmati Sangwan, former general secretary, the All India Democratic Women's Association, said it was a step in the “right direction.”

This is a positive step in the right direction. Now, is the time to raise the issues of marital rape and Section 377. It is the time to focus on gender-just laws across communities.

Jagmati Sangwan, former general secretary, the All India Democratic Women’s Association

(With inputs from PTI)

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