Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani has said that said condemning every marriage as violent and every man a rapist not advisable. She said in Rajya Sabha that the protection of women and children in the country is a priority for all but condemning every marriage as violent and every man as a rapist is not advisable.
Her comments came in response to CPI leader Binoy Viswam’s supplementary query on marital rape. He sought to know if the government had taken note of Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act on the definition of domestic violence as well as Section 375 of the IPC on rape.
“….let me say, to condemn every marriage in this country as a violent marriage, and to condemn every man in this country as a rapist, in this august house is not advisable,” Irani said.
The minister said the senior member knows that Rule 47 of the procedures in the Rajya Sabha disallows elaboration on a subject that is currently sub judice. The government’s endeavour, she said, is to protect women in this country in collaboration with state governments. Currently, over 30 helplines are functional across India, which have assisted over 66 lakh women. Besides, 703 ‘one stop centres’ are functional in the country and these have assisted over five lakh women.
Later, Viswam said that the response by Irani was an attempt to “mislead” the House and such statements “not only seek to trivialize the issue of marital rape and domestic violence but are deeply insulting to the numerous women who have been subjected to this crime.”
Currently, a bench of justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar of the Delhi high court are hearing public interest litigations (PILs) filed in 2015 by non-governmental organisation (NGO) RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women’s Association, and two individuals seeking to strike down the exception in the Indian rape laws that insulates husbands on the grounds that it discriminated against married women who were sexually assaulted by their husbands.
Exception 2 of Section 375 Indian Penal Code (IPC) decriminalises marital rape and mandates that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.
Viswam said he never meant every man is a rapist and posed another question – if the government could collect data on this issue and submit it to Parliament at the earliest.
To this, the minister said the member is suggesting that the Centre engage with state governments and seek records from them. But the Centre cannot make a recommendation on behalf of state governments today in this House, she added.
BJP leader Sushil Modi asked if the government is in favour of criminalising marital rape or giving immunity as criminalising it will end the institution of marriage. Sushil Modi said it would be difficult to prove when the wife consented or not. Irani responded by saying the matter is sub judice and she cannot elaborate.