Criminalising marital rape will destabilise marriage: govt

Agencies
August 29, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 29: Marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbands, government today submitted before the Delhi High Court.

The Centre, in an affidavit filed in response to pleas seeking criminalising marital rape, said the Supreme Court and various High Courts have already observed the growing misuse of section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of IPC.

The reply, filed before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, also sought to implead state governments in the matter to know their opinion to avoid any complication at a later stage.

"It has to be ensured adequately that marital rape does not become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage apart from being an easy tool for harassing the husbands," the affidavit, filed through central government standing counsel Monika Arora, said.

The government was responding to various petitions seeking declaration of Section 375 (offence of rape) of the IPC as unconstitutional on the ground that it discriminated against married women being sexually assaulted by their husbands.

During the day's hearing, senior advocate advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that marriage cannot be viewed as giving a husband the right to coerced intercourse on demand.

He said a marriage licence cannot be viewed as licence for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity and a married woman has the same right of full control over her body as an unmarried woman. He also referred to various judgments of foreign countries.
The hearing in the matter would continue tomorrow.

Marital rape (or spousal rape) is an act in which one of the spouses indulges in sexual intercourse without the consent of the other.

The Centre said in the affidavit that marital rape has not been defined in a statute or law, while the offence of rape is defined under section 375 IPC. Hence, defining marital rape would call for a broad based consensus of the society.

"What may appear to be marital rape to an individual wife, it may not appear so to others. As to what constitutes marital rape and what would constitute marital non-rape needs to be defined precisely before a view on its criminalisation is taken," it said.

It said merely deleting the exception which provides protection to husbands from prosecution for the offence of rape, may not stop marital rape. "Moral and social awareness" plays a vital role in stopping such an act, it added.

"If all sexual acts by a man with his own wife will qualify to be marital rape, then the judgment as to whether it is a marital rape or not will singularly rest with the wife.

"The question is what evidences the courts will rely upon in such circumstances, as there can be no lasting evidence in case of sexual acts between a man and his own wife," the affidavit read.

It also referred to the reports of Law Commission and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, saying they have examined the matter and did not recommend criminalisation of marital rape.

Citing the Justice J S Verma Committee Report on "Amendments to Criminal Law", it said it was recommended that the exception to marital rape be removed, but it also pointed out that it is also important that legal prohibition on marital rape is accompanied by changes in the attitude of the prosecutors, police officers and those in society generally.

Regarding the petitioners' submission that other countries, mostly western, have criminalised marital rape, the Centre said it does not necessarily mean India should also follow them blindly.

"This country has its own unique problems due to various factors like literacy, lack of financial empowerment of the majority of females, mindset of the society, vast diversity, poverty, etc. and these should be considered carefully before criminalising marital rape," it said.

The affidavit said that criminal law is in the Concurrent List and implemented by the states and there is a vast diversity in the cultures of these states.

The high court had earlier asked the Centre to spell out its stand on petitions seeking to make marital rape a criminal offence.

It has agreed to examine the issue raised in PILs by NGOs RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women's Association, represented through advocate Karuna Nandy, and a man and a woman, who have sought striking down of the exception in the Indian penal law that did not consider sexual intercourse with a minor wife, above 15 years of age, as rape.

The court has also agreed to hear a plea by NGO Men Welfare Trust, representing men victimised by alleged misuse of gender laws, opposing the petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence.

Earlier, the Centre had defended its legislation, saying child marriages were taking place in India and the decision to retain a girl's minimum age as 15 years to marry was taken under the amended rape law to protect a couple against criminalisation of their sexual activity.

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News Network
October 31,2024

Udupi: Falling prey to a sophisticated a “digital arrest” scam, Prameela (39) found herself defrauded of a staggering ₹11,87,463. The plot, orchestrated through deceptive tactics, left her financially devastated.

On October 25, Prameela received a call from an unknown number claiming a parcel, allegedly sent by one Wang Ming Zi, was flagged due to containing suspicious items: 5 kg of clothes, 8 ICICI credit cards, and 700 grams of MDMA. Adding to the urgency, the caller asserted that an FIR had already been filed against her.

The caller then transferred Prameela to a supposed representative of the 'Bombay Cyber Crime Branch,' who introduced himself as Manish Kumar, claiming to be a senior executive at DTDC Mumbai. Manish directed her to connect via Skype video call, asking her to download the app and search for the ID [email protected].

Once on the call, Prameela was requested to provide her Aadhaar card details, which she complied with. She soon received what appeared to be a formal arrest order listing her name, address, and Aadhaar information. Under pressure, Prameela disclosed her bank account details and balance to the caller. Exploiting this trust, the scammer then transferred ₹11,87,463 from her account.

Following the incident, Prameela lodged a complaint with the Shirva police, who have since registered a case under sections 316(2), 318(4), 351(2) of the BNS, and 66(C), 66(D) of the IT Act. The authorities are now investigating this alarming case of digital fraud.

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News Network
November 7,2024

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The Israeli regime has killed at least 40 people during new airstrikes against eastern Lebanese areas, besides targeting the country’s capital Beirut with fresh acts of aggression.

Lebanon’s health ministry announced the fatalities on Wednesday, saying 53 other people had also been wounded during the aerial attacks that targeted the country’s Bekaa Valley, including the city of Baalbek.

In early Thursday, the regime was also reported to have attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs, including a site adjacent to Rafiq Hariri International Airport.

The attacks came after the regime issued short-notice evacuation orders apparently directed at the residents of the areas, claiming that the areas contained facilities belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

Tel Aviv has been using similar claims on countless occasions since last October, when it markedly intensified its deadly acts of aggression against Lebanon, in order to try to justify the escalation. Hezbollah has, however, invariably refuted the claims.

Also on Wednesday, the United Nations warned in its most recent flash report on the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli atrocities targeting Lebanon that the aggression had “reached a critical point.”

The attacks have claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people, which was “58 percent more than the 1,900 fatalities” that were caused by the regime’s 2006 war against Lebanon, the report said.

“Additionally, an estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced, both within Lebanon and into neighboring countries, 33 percent more than the number of people displaced in 2006,” it added.

Women comprised the majority of those who had been rendered homeless within Lebanon as a result of the Israeli attacks, the report noted.

It also regretted that the Israeli attacks had featured 78 assaults on healthcare facilities across the country that had claimed the lives of 130 health workers and injured 111 others.

In response to the aggression, Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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November 1,2024

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Bengaluru, Nov 1: Hardline BJP leader and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "Nationalise Waqf Assets", alleging Waqf board of "blatant violation" in claiming of the lands of Farmers, temples and mutts.

Taking to his social media, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal posted on X, saying "I have written a letter to the hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji to Nationalize the Waqf Assets in view of the arbitrary, blatant violation in claiming of the lands of Farmers, Landowners, Temples, Trusts and Mutts across the country by the Waqf board. All the citizens of the country have equal rights on the land. If the motive of Waqf is welfare and social service, this has to be done without bias and religious discrimination as India is a secular nation."

Additionally, Vijayapura MLA also attached the letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his post.

Earlier, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya had accused the Waqf Board of encroaching on thousands of acres of farmers' lands with the support of the Karnataka government.

Surya stated, "There have been multiple press conferences and videos in the public domain where the Minister himself has admitted that these Waqf adalats are being conducted under the Chief Minister's instructions. This is a grave matter, where thousands of acres of farmers' lands are being encroached upon by the Waqf Board with the active support and collusion of the State Government."

He mentioned that, in recent days, farmers from various districts across Karnataka have reported that, without prior notice, ownership of their lands has been abruptly transferred to the Waqf Board.

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge criticised BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, claiming he has done nothing for Bengaluru. Kharge's remarks came in response to the BJP MP's accusations regarding Waqf Board land encroachment.

The Congress leader assured that the Karnataka government is committed to protecting farmers' properties.

Kharge further questioned the BJP's record on protecting temples during its previous government, stating that the Karnataka government is committed to safeguarding temples and common people's properties.

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