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Marital Rape Issue: Shashi Tharoor, senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP, introduced a private member’s bill in the Parliament on Friday to amend the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and remove the marital rape exception, reaffirming that marriage cannot negate the woman’s right to grant or deny consent.

In an X post, the former Union minister said asserted India must uphold its constitutional values and move from ‘No Means No’ to ‘Only Yes Means Yes,'.

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"The criminalisation of marital rape is an urgent necessity in India’s legal framework. I introduced my Private Member’s Bill today to amend the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and remove the marital rape exception, reaffirming that marriage cannot negate the woman’s right to grant or deny consent. India must uphold its constitutional values and move from ‘No Means No’ to ‘Only Yes Means Yes,'. Every woman deserves the fundamental right to bodily autonomy and dignity within marriage, protections that our legal system fails to provide. Marital rape is not about marriage but about violence. The moment for action has arrived," he wrote on X, sharing a copy of his statement on the bill.

Criminalisation Of Marital Rape Is An Urgent Necessity: Tharoor

"The criminalisation of marital rape is an urgent necessity in India's legal framework. Currently, Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, excludes marital rape from being a punishable offence, allowing men to engage in non-consensual sex with their wives, provided the wife is not under 18 years of age. This outdated legal exception is rooted in patriarchal notions that view wives as property-a remnant of colonial-era mindsets," he said in the statement.

This failure to criminalise marital rape has left married women legally defenceless, distinguishing them from unmarried women and perpetuating the misconception that marriage voids the necessity of consent, the Congress leader said, adding that this undermines women's fundamental rights to dignity, safety, and bodily autonomy.

83% Of Women Faced Sexual Violence By Husband: Tharoor Cites Data

The alarming prevalence of marital rape is evident from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), which reports that 83% of women aged 18 to 49 who faced sexual violence named their current husband as the perpetrator, reflecting the pervasive nature of sexual violence within marriages, he said.

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The Justice Verma Committee Report (2013) strongly recommended the removal of the marital rape exception, citing it as contradictory to women's rights and justice. Additionally, international treaties like CEDAW, to which India is a signatory, have called for broader definitions of rape to include marital rape, acknowledging the reality of marital sexual abuse, Congress leader added.

Tharoor futher said, under the Indian Constitution, Article 21 guarantees every individual the Right to Life and Personal Liberty, interpreted by the Supreme Court to include dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy-rights that marital rape violates by denying married women control over their own bodies.

Furthermore, Article 253 empowers Parliament to legislate in alignment with international conventions, and Article 51 enjoins the State to respect international law and uphold equality and justice. These constitutional provisions clearly mandate the removal of the marital rape exception to uphold both domestic and international commitments to human rights, he added.

"Marriage should be a partnership grounded in mutual respect, consent, and equality. Criminalising marital rape affirms that consent is a fundamental human right, regardless of marital status. Allowing a husband to force sex upon his wife disregards her autonomy and perpetuates a culture of control and gender-based violence. In moving toward equality, it's essential to restore women's agency over their sexual rights within marriage and ensure dignity for all individuals. only entrenches gender-based inequality in India's society," he stated.

"Similarly, factors unrelated to a woman's autonomy-such as her caste, profession, clothing choices, personal beliefs, or past sexual conduct-should never be used to presume her consent. Such assumptions not only perpetuate gender-based inequality but also violate her fundamental rights and dignity; they must be unequivocally rejected," he concluded.

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