The government is planning to bring a comprehensive law to criminalise marital rape by amending the Indian Penal Code, minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on a private member bill.
The bill, ‘The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2014’, was moved by Congress member Avinash Pande. He later withdrew the bill after Rijiju’s request that the government is considering bringing a law on the issue.
The MoS said that the government was awaiting the Law Commission report before going ahead. “The issue of marital rape is very complicated and it is difficult to explain it. These are of such extreme private nature and no records of any consent are available. The matter has been dealt in detail by a Parliamentary Committee as well as the Law Commission,” Rijiju said.
A Parliamentary panel has already recommended the need for a comprehensive review of the criminal system of law. “We are awaiting the report and we want it to come early,” Rijiju said.