Preserving marriage: Why govt didn't include marital rape in its ordinance

The government’s ordinance on sexual assault has come under massive criticism from women’s groups who have argued that the government has cherry-picked from the recommendations of the Justice J S Verma Committee. The committee was formed after widespread protests against the horrific gangrape and death of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi. The government’s decision to leave out marital rape as sexual offence in its ordinance has been sharply criticised by women’s group who argue that this is merely a reflection of the archaic notions of marriage. [caption id=“attachment_630667” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of protests against Delhi gangrape. AP[/caption] Now a Times of India report has stated that the government did not include marital rape because it felt that it would weaken the institution of marriage in India. The report states,     Union home secretary R K Singh, in his reply to the panel headed by BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, clarified that marital rape was left out from the purview of the Ordinance as marriage presumes consent. He added that government decided against recognizing marital rape as this would go against the traditional family system in India where a marriage is seen as a steadfast institution. The official is said to have articulated the government’s apprehensions that accusations of rape might be made in the wake of marital disputes, causing irreparable damage to the institution of marriage. Incidentally, DMK member Kanimozhi is learnt to have pitched for including marital rape as a sexual offence, arguing that presuming consent in a marital relationship was an archaic notion. Read the complete story on Times of India here