Tech & worsening of sexual violence within marriage

The Supreme Court will decide whether the marital rape exception to Section 375 of the IPC violates the fundamental rights of married women. The Centre presents three arguments: criminalising marital rape would destabilise marriage; the provision may be misused; and existing remedies under domestic violence and other penal provisions are sufficient. The article argues these points fail to account for autonomy and bodily integrity and calls for repealing the marital rape exception and embedding a clear understanding of consent in police training, judicial practice, and criminal law.

In Mumbai, a woman was drugged and raped by her husband, and the assault was recorded and uploaded onto a porn site. The incident is described as not an aberration in terms of who the perpetrator is. The article notes that in 95% of rape cases the offender was known to the victim, and explains that there are two offences in this incident — rape and filming/uploading the video — with the husband potentially prosecuted only for the latter under current Indian law, as marital rape is not a crime and sharing such videos can be penalised under the Information Technology Act as spreading obscene content.

CNN aired an investigation on drug-facilitated sexual violence committed on sleeping women by their husbands. The report notes a porn website hosting these videos with 62 million monthly visits and describes global outrage over how marriage can be weaponised to commit sexual violence. It also mentions that in the United States the perpetrator could face charges for marital rape alongside other charges.