Marital Rape Is Rape

Delhi HC verdict is a setback. But judiciary remains the best hope for gender justice

Delhi high court’s split verdict on criminalising marital rape is a setback for the legal battle to rid IPC Section 375 of the exception clause, which stipulates that “sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife” isn’t rape. Justice Rajiv Shakdher ruled the exception unconstitutional, terming it violative of Article 14, Article 15, Article 19(1) and Article 21. Justice C Hari Shankar upheld the provision noting that the exception carved for marital relationships was based on intelligible differentia and was reasonable.