Marital rape hearing starts, top court questions impact of criminalisation

If we strike down the marital rape exception, those acts will fall within the category of offences. Will we be creating a new offence, the court asked

The Supreme Court on Thursday opened final hearings on the criminalisation of marital rape, questioning the broader implications such a decision might have on the institution of marriage as it examined the constitutionality of the law that exempts a husband from prosecution for raping his wife.

Representing the lead petitioners, senior advocate Karuna Nundy argued that the marital rape exception violates fundamental rights, maintaining that the exemption for marital relationships is arbitrary. (ANI)

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud further asked the petitioners on whether striking down the marital rape exemption in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the