Women & Child Development Ministry Reverses Stand on Marital Rape

Maneka Gandhi had earlier said that the concept of marital rape cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi (Photo: IANS)

The Union Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry will amend its response officially in the Rajya Sabha. The government says that marital rape “should be treated seriously”, reports Hindustan Times.

This comes after what Maneka Gandhi had said earlier in response to a question on March 10:

It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors such as level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of society to treat marriage as a sacrament.

Women and Child Development Minister, Maneka Gandhi

The above response is now being attributed to a “mistake” made by a junior official in her ministry. As for the current status of the law on marital rape, the Home Ministry had “requested the Law Commission to deliberate upon the matter during the course of its comprehensive review of the criminal justice system”, says the HT report.