Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi has said that her ministry could consider taking a step towards criminalizing marital rape provided there is ample proof of a sufficient number of complaints. She said that although marital rape happened frequently, women had to complain themselves about this aspect of violence. Only then the government could respond. At present, the government does not have a case for introducing a separate law to criminalize marital rape. The fact is that women do not even have the guts to complain against domestic violence. Maneka Gandhi said emphatically that violence was violence and had to be dealt with severely. It has, on the other hand, been argued that if marital rape is criminalized, the entire family system will be under great stress. Section 375 of the IPC which deals with rape makes an exception for cases within marriage. Even sexual intercourse by a man with his wife who is under fifteen years of age is not legally rape. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 provides for civil remedies for domestic violence including sexual abuse “within a marriage but does not make it a criminal offence”.
It may be noted that while the Law Commission report was not in favour of making marital rape a criminal offence as that would be “excessive interference with the marital relationship”, the Justice Verma report made a strong case for criminalizing marital rape. Can Maneka Gandhi push forward the case for harassed married women and criminalize marital rape?