Nuptial Rape: Rape Within Marriage

Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 Criminalizes ’Rape’ under Offences Affecting the Human Body, where prevails an oddly fitted exception to this Section, which states: Sexual intercourse by a man with his wife who is not less than 15 years of age does not amount to the offence of rape. Marital Rape, a non-criminalized crime in India is where the victim herself does not know she is a victim of Marital Rape. It is one of the most under-reported crimes with 77% of women never seeking any aid regarding the violence they ever experienced. The section clearly states that rape within marriage cannot be treated as a criminal offence unless the wife is below 15 years of age. Considering the repercussions, the adverse effect on mental health highly caused by marital rape due to its non-criminalization, especially in India is reviewed legally and psychologically in this paper. The data for the above piece of research has been taken from Secondary sources: law sites, search engines, research articles, Google Scholar etc.