Rape Is Rape: Gujarat HC Rejects Plea Of A Woman Involved In Sexual Abuse And Violence Against Daughter-in-Law

While survivors of sexual violence are seeking criminalisation of marital rape in India, a woman accused of being involved in sexual and domestic abuse of her daughter-in-law by her husband and in-laws submitted a bail plea to the Gujarat High Court. Quoting Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Justice DA Joshi said, “A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is rape, be it performed by man, the ‘husband’ on the woman, ‘wife’.”

In 2022, the Supreme Court of India said, “Rape includes marital rape,” while hearing a plea of a woman seeking abortion beyond 20-24 weeks of pregnancy. However, earlier this month, the Allahabad High Court acquitted a person accused of ‘unnatural offence’ against his wife. The bench noted, “Protection of a person from marital rape continues in the case where his wife is of 18 years of age or more than that.”

While the judiciary system and justices in India continue to debate marital rape, the state by the Gujarat HC is a ray of hope for many survivors of sexual and domestic abuse at the hands of their partners and in-laws.

Woman Accused Of Complicity In Sexual And Domestic Abuse Of Her Daughter-in-Law

The survivor married a man in Rajkot in 2022. She has alleged that her husband and in-laws had recorded intimate moments in the bedroom by hiding a CCTV camera. They did it to generate income by selling those sensual videos.

The complaint also claimed that her husband had recorded them being sexually intimate with each other and circulated those videos on family Whatsapp groups. She accused him of selling those videos on pornographic websites. Following the complaint, the police arrested the complainant’s husband and in-laws.

The survivor's mother-in-law was also found complicit in the case. She knew about how her daughter-in-law was being harassed by her son and other family members, and she continued supporting such heinous acts.

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Rape Is Rape: Gujarat High Court Said While Rejecting Plea

The woman sought bail from the HC, but it was declined as Justice Joshi noted that such offences create an unsafe space and silence the survivor while undermining their self-worth and dignity.

The court also pointed out that gender-based crimes still remain unseen and under-reported. Our society further promotes the culture of silence in the name of ‘men will be men’ or a woman has to bear with the demands of her in-laws as if they own her.

The bench said, “This silence needs to be broken. In doing so, men, perhaps, more than women, have a duty and role to play in averting and combating violence against women.”

In favour of the woman, an argument was made that rape by the husband is exempt under the IPC, Justice Joshi responded to this by referring to how Australia, Canada, 50 States in America, New Zealand, and many European countries consider marital rape as illegal.

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The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-2021 reported that 83% of women in the age group of 18-49 who have survived sexual violence said that the perpetrators were their husbands. This fight still continues as women continue to suffer.