India’s Former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has said that marital rape need not be considered an offence, reported The Times of India.
Addressing a conference on ‘Transformative Constitution in India’ on Monday, 8 April, the former CJI said, “I don’t think that marital rape should be regarded as an offence in India because it will create absolute anarchy in families and our country is sustaining itself because of the family platform which upholds family values.”
“Because some country has made marital rape an offence, I don’t think it should be regarded as an offence in India. In villages, it will create absolute anarchy in many families,” The Times of India reported, quoting the former CJI.
‘Notion of Criminalising Marital Rape a Borrowed Idea’
“Our country is sustaining because of the family platform. We still have family values, we still respect the family background and many other facets,” Justice Misra said, answering a question by a student who had asked whether rape laws in India should be amended, made gender neutral and if marital rape should be considered as a crime, reported The Times of India.
He further said that the notion of criminalising marital rape as an idea borrowed from other nations, which cannot be applicable to India, reported Deccan Herald.
As prescribed under the Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, forced sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, who is not under 18 years of age, does not count as rape.
Lawyers have previously argued that the marital rape exception violated Articles 14 (equal protection of law), 15(1) (non-discrimination on grounds of sex) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.
(With inputs from The Times of India and Deccan Herald)
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