The High Court only has to address the historic and extreme injustice that has been done to married women as a result of the marital rape exception, Gonsalves said.
Justice C Hari Shankar of the Delhi High Court expressed the prima facie view that criminalising marital rape would amount to creation of a new offence.
In the marital rape case, the Delhi High Court asked whether striking down the exception under Section 375 of the IPC would amount to creating a new offence.
Lack of a woman's consent is the foundational basis for invoking Section 375, Rebecca John argued before the Delhi High Court in the marital rape case.
KEY TAKEAWAYS Marriage cannot be interpreted as irrevocable implied consent. Marriage should not be seen as a license for a man to rape his wife, regardless of his relationship with the victim, a rapist is a rapist. There is a gross violation of natu