Marital rape is unacceptable: Maneka Gandhi

New Delhi: Marital rape is condemnable as is violence against women in any form, said Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi. Her view assumes significance as it runs contrary to the government's position that charge of marital rape was untenable in India due to the nature of the society and its beliefs and mindsets.

Gandhi said that marital rape is about a man's need to assert his power on a woman. "My opinion is that violence against women shouldn't be limited to violence by strangers. Very often a marital rape is not always about a man's need for sex; it is only about his need for power and subjugation. In such case, it should be treated with seriousness," Gandhi told IANS in the course of an interview.

The government's stand on marital rape sparked a row recently as it held that this cannot be treated as a criminal offence as marriage is seen as a :"sacrament" between husband and wife in India.

Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary had told parliament that there is no proposal to bring any amendment to the law for criminalizing marital rape. "It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context owing to various factors, e.g. level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat marriage as a sacrament, etc," he said. Contradicting the argument, many activists and champions of women's rights, as well voices in the opposition ranks, have denounced the government stand as retrograde, with many pointing out that the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended to India that marital rape be criminalised.

The Justice J.S. Verma committee also recommended the criminalisation of marital rape. According to United Nations Population Fund, 75 percent of married women in India were subjected to marital rape.