IS IMPOSED SEXUAL ACTIVITY ON A MARRIED WOMAN FALSE AND PUNISHABLE? IF SO, HOW IS THE CASE SUPPOSED TO BE PROCEEDED WITH AND CONCLUDED?

This paper critically analysis the current ongoing legal anomaly of the marital rape as an exception in Indian criminal law, specifically under Exception 2 to Section 375 of the IPC (now retained in Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023), where in the exception shields a husband from prosecution for non-consensual sexual intercourse with his adult wife, a provision uniformly delivered by scholars as a vestige of colonial-era patriarchy and a structural denial of women's bodily autonomy and sexual self-determination. The research uses a doctrinal comparative methodology to illustrate how this exception severely violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, which protect equality, freedom, and the right to live with dignity. Judicial interpretations reflect a growing constitutional unease, while the Supreme Court has read down the exception for minor wives and has acknowledged marital rape in the context of reproductive rights, as the core of the constitutional challenge, which yet remains unresolved, as highlighted by the Delhi High Court's split verdict. Courts have, however, developed strategies, recognising forced sex as "cruelty" as a basis for divorce and quasi-criminal proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act and §498A IPC. Furthermore, the paper situates India as a significant outlier in the global context, contrasting its law with the complete abolition of the marital rape exemption in jurisdictions like the UK, Canada, and the US, and contravening international obligations under CEDAW. The conclusion advocates for urgent legislative reform, the outright abolition of the spousal exception, and the harmonisation of domestic law with constitutional principles of justice for the genders and human rights, ensuring that all non-consensual sexual activity constitutes rape, regardless of the marital status of any of the parties involved.