Illustrations: Deeksha Malhotra
Scriptwriters: Mythreyee Ramesh and Shelly Walia
The Delhi High Court on 11 May, delivered a split verdict in the marital rape exception case with both judges on the two-judge division bench arriving at different conclusions. Exception 2 of the Indian Penal Code's Section 375 makes non-consensual sex by husband with his wife not a crime.
Beyond the laws are the stories of women, who have been fighting, surviving the heinous crime for years, with barely any legal protection.
The story of Anita, a 23-year-old woman from Rajasthan, who escaped a life of marital rape and violence after six long years – in the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
(Name and certain details of survivor and her child has been changed to protect their identity. Trigger Warning: Descriptions of marital rape and violence. Reader discretion advised.)
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