Jurisprudential Analysis Of Criminalisation Of Marital Rape - A Global Outlook On Its Legality

Anurag Dash & Swetangi Das

ABSTRACT

The term "marital rape" refers to rape committed by the victim's husband. The definition of rape remains the same: when there is no consent, sexual intercourse or sexual penetration occurs. As a result, proving the lack of consent is a necessary component of proving the crime of rape. The burden of proof for lack of consent is frequently placed on the victim. On the other side, there are some situations in which consent is assumed such as when the victim and the perpetrator are married. In such cases, the concept of marital rape becomes completely contradictory. Marital rape is still not recognised as a crime by law in many jurisdictions across the world. Even though countries recognise rape as a crime with consequences, they exempt the victim and perpetrator if they are married. The objective of this research paper is to analyse the jurisprudential aspect of criminalisation of marital rape. This paper also traces the history of marital rape exemption and provides a comparative analysis of marital rape exemption and criminalisation of marital rape globally. This paper also seeks to evaluate the law relating to marital rape and proposes a legislation for criminalisation of marital rape in India.