Legal standpoint on marital rape in India

Abstract

The present paper discusses the legal standpoint on marital rape in India concerning Indian women whose stoic silence on the said controversial issue is meant only for maintaining harmony in married life. The three branches of the Indian democratic system: the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary have never been shaken vigorously whenever the reality and agony of marital rape surfaced in reports, news, and statistics. The prevalent legal provisions available to marital rape in India are insufficient to deal with the injustices borne by the victim. The judgments by the apex court are also not supportive of the criminalization of marital rape and the matter is still hanging on the pretext of the social and cultural threads beaded to the ornament of sacredness involved in the institution of marriage.