The Scale of Rape Cases

As elsewhere, rape remains a prevalent social, legal and human rights issue in India. With a demonstrated increase in rates over the years, rape is the fourth most common crime committed against women in India. With 29,670 cases reported in 2023 and 29,536 cases reported in 2024, these reported numbers have gone up significantly compared to the 18,359 cases reported back in 2005. Beyond those official figures, it is estimated that around three-quarters of rape cases are never reported. If correct, this would place the actual number of rape victims at nearly 120,000 per year rather than the just under 30,000 that are officially reported. Moreover, the statistics disregard accounts of marital rape, as the rape law in India does not criminalize marital rape at all. The law makes a legal exemption for men to engage in forced sexual acts with their wife if she is 18 years or older in age.   

High Court Cases and Public Responses

The debate around marital rape has received significant media attention in recent years, particularly following the Delhi High Court’s 2022 hearings on its potential criminalization. Amid strong opposition to this proposed change, the hashtag #MarriageStrike emerged on X. This movement argued that criminalizing forced intercourse within a marriage would expose husbands to false accusations. By contrast, feminist activists and commentators criticized the irony of the lack of protection for women experiencing sexual violence. This tension resurfaced in a 2025 Chhattisgarh High Court ruling, where a 40-year-old man was found not guilty for forcing “unnatural” sex on his wife. The incident took place in 2019, and the victim passed away a few hours after the alleged assault. The court overturned his earlier conviction for culpable homicide on the grounds that Indian law does not recognize non-consensual sexual intercourse with a wife as a punishable offence. The ruling prompted renewed public criticism of the colonial-era marital rape exemption inherited from the Indian Penal Code of 1860.

Social and Legal Implications  

The government defends the marital rape exemption stating that criminalization would infringe upon of the sanctity of the institution of marriage in the country. The government refers to the existing domestic violence laws as sufficient protection from nonconsensual sexual acts within marriage. In 2005, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) was passed. It includes physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, and economic abuse as a form of domestic violence. The law provides civic remedies such as monetary compensation or residence orders instead of criminal penalization for marital rape. The governmental stance is that punishing martial rape proportionately to a crime would be “excessively harsh” as marriage partners should have sexual access to the other. The marital rape exemption, retained from the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), consequently provides legal protection against rape convictions within marriage. Marriage is legally treated as constituting a both partners ongoing consent to sexual relations. This reinforcing the structures of Brahminical patriarchy and stands in contrast to the Indian constitution’s guarantee of gender equality.

Impact on Survivors

The absence of a criminalization of marital rape causes victims to suffer severe, long-term physical and psychological harm. It also limits their ability to seek legal remedies. Domestic violence laws prove inadequate in serving justice for a crime that remains non-punishable by law. Women also find themselves unable to speak up about their experiences. This is due to the severe taboo, feeling of shame and guilt, and social stigmas that come with victim blaming and lack of structural support. Data from the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-5) conducted between 2019-2021 suggest that the impact of marital rape is experienced vastly differently within India’s manifold socioeconomic spheres. Access to legal and social remedies remain varied on the basis of class, caste, and education. Economic dependence can further complicate access to justice for women, often trapping them in abusive marriages.

Amendments under BNS

In 2024, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was enacted. It is now the official penal code of India and therefore replaced the colonial-era IPC. Several changes were institutionalized specifically under Section 63 moving away from Section 375 of the IPC. Some revisions included categorizing all forms of penetration under the category of sexual intercourse. This includes: “penile/vaginal,” “penile/oral,” “penile/anal,” “finger/vaginal,” “finger/anal,” and “object/vaginal” penetration. It also introduced revised conditions of invalid consent, including fear of harm, inability to communicate, manipulation or impersonation, and intoxication. Under BNS, the marital rape exemption is maintained; however, it raises the threshold in the exception clause to match the legal age of marriage at 18 years of age from previously 15 years of age. However, the revised framework does not criminalize marital rape, serving as a continuation of the colonial-era exception laws. This is done on grounds of concerns for destabilization of the institutions of marriage and misuse and false accusations in divorce-related fights.

Colonial Legacies, Current Realities

India stands among 32 countries in the world where marital rape is not criminalized. The Indian Penal Code of 1860 was derived from Victorian common law, where the marital rape exemption finds its roots. It stems from the idea that the wife provided continuous, irrevocable consent to her husband in her marriage and was at the time viewed as the property of her husband. This was also a reflection of the English ideals of women having a subordinate position within marriage where consent is implied, hence making rape an impossibility. Even though India continues to confront its colonial and patriarchal realities, the question around a woman’s rights to her own body remains unresolved. It currently depends on who she has married.