Marital Rape: Spouse Can Say No To Sex, Says Delhi High Court

The notion of ‘marital rape’ isn’t really popular or accepted in India even though the act itself may be quite rampant.

In a positive move, the Delhi court observed that marriage does not mean that a woman is always consenting for physical relations with her husband.

As reported by The Times of India, the court also said that physical force cant be the ground to establish the offence of rape. In a relationship like marriage, both man and woman have a right to say 'no' to physical relations, said a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and C Hari Shankar.

"Marriage does not mean that the woman is all time ready, willing and consenting (for establishing physical relations). The man will have to prove that she was a consenting party," the bench observed.

While hearing petitions for and against making marital rape an offence, it refused to agree with the non-governmental organisation Men Welfare Trust, which in its submission said that in spousal sexual violence, the use of force or threat of force are important elements to constitute the offence.

"It is incorrect to say that (physical) force is necessary for rape. It is not necessary to look for injuries in a rape. Today, the definition of rape is completely different," the court said.