Rape of wife is legally considered rape under the IPC. In fact, courts recognize any forced sexual activity as rape under current IPC. The number of people committing marital rapes could be around five in ten. The rape cases are surging but that does not mean every fourth person around us is a rapist. The core of the news is rape occurs on a recurring basis in the society. We should be ASHAMED that there exists a report which quotes people admitting having raped. Let’s Introspect, Where is our society headed? That’s the core question we need to address. Let’s start by teaching our children – the next generation, ability to distinguish between things that are correct and those that are wrong.
Crimes against women cannot be right in any age. Making stringent laws is in indeed a need of the hour, what is more urgent is the strictness in adhering to these laws. The Penal Code may not be a joke in India, but the system with which the police and the judiciary works is surely a joke. Due to these domestic and marital assaults woman loses her essence as a human being. In addition to the rape itself, many are forced to comply with “horrible deeds designed to further humiliate them. I get shock in my ribs when I read news such as husband urinating on wife, acting out a fantasy of a torturer men had seen in pornography videos.
Sadly these stories are not uncommon among Indian women or women in different countries in general. Studies have shown that 15 to 25 per cent of all married women have been victims of spousal rape and this type of rape is the most common form in a given society. Victims of spousal rape do not come forward to register a complaint because it may tarnish her reputation and she can’t quit the marriage either. Once a woman is married, she’s expected to stay married, no matter the circumstances. The sad thing is, the victims’ relatives impose immense pressure on poor people not to disturb the family peace or bring disrepute and as such, they are made to endure whatever form of violence.
Rape, according to law is non-consensual sexual acts which include intercourse, anal or oral sex, forced sexual behaviour with other individuals, and other sexual activities that are considered by the victim as degrading, humiliating, painful, and unwanted. But in India we consider that man and woman get married to each other to satisfy the sex cravings, and in most of the community, woman is meant for satisfying men in whichever way he wants. But no one realizes that rape diminishes a person’s dignity and their human rights to safety, choice and consent. In Marital rape these non-consensual sexes term itself it not taken care of. Rape is a crime; it is a very personal and intimate traumatic experience for the victims. Although rape within marriage is somewhat tricky to define, it is a reality many women have had to live with or live in, depending on if they found the courage to leave the abusive marriage and move past the trauma or not. Marital rape is a serious form of violence that can have life-shattering effects for its victims.
QueenBee
