Mumbai: Woman Claims Marital Rape Led To Her Paralysis, Court Says ‘It Is Not Illegal To Have Relationship With Wife Without Her Consent’

Mumbai, 13th August 2021: In the cases of marital rape (having physical relations without the consent of the wife), different decisions of two courts of the country have come out within seven days.

The Kerala High Court in a judgment on 6th August held that marital rape is cruelty and can be a ground for divorce. At the same time, the Mumbai City Additional Sessions Court has said that having sex without the wife’s will is not illegal.

A woman from Mumbai had told the sessions court that she was paralyzed below the waist due to her husband’s forced sex. Along with this, the victim had also filed a case of dowry harassment against her husband and in-laws. At the same time, the accused and his family had filed an application for anticipatory bail, calling it a false case, which was approved by the court.

During the hearing held on Thursday in this case, Judge SJ Gharat said that the allegations of the woman do not come under legal scrutiny. If the husband has cohabited with the wife, then it cannot be called illegal. He has not done any immoral acts, the judge said.

Court said – it is unfortunate that the woman is paralyzed
The judge said that marital rape is not a crime in India. Although the court has termed the woman being paralyzed as extremely unfortunate, it has said that the entire family cannot be held responsible for this. Custodial interrogation is also not required in this case. The court also said that the woman alleged dowry harassment, but did not tell what was demanded in dowry.

Woman’s allegation – husband having forced relationship after one month of marriage
The victim woman says that they were married in November 2020 and only a month after the marriage, the husband started forcibly having sex with her. During this, when her health deteriorated in January, she went to the doctor and found that she was paralyzed in the lower part of the waist.