SC ruling defines marital rape as an offence solely for purposes of the Marriage Protection Act

Digital Desk: The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a landmark decision that women, regardless of marital status, have the right to a safe abortion within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. 

In interpreting the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, a three-judge bench comprised of Justices DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala, and AS Bopanna stated that the distinction between married and unmarried women under the statute is "artificial and constitutionally untenable." For the purposes of the MTP Act and guidelines, they extended their ruling to victims of rape, including marital rape.

According to the court, women who conceived as a result of forced intercourse by their husbands will fall within the category of "survivors of sexual assault, rape, or incest" as defined in Rule 3B(a) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules. However, the court stated that the term "rape" must be construed to include marital rape merely for the purposes of the MTP Act.

According to the court's definition of marital rape under the MTP Act, : "Married women may also fall under the category of sexual assault or rape survivors. The term "rape" generally refers to sexual activity with a person who is not willing or has given their consent. Regardless of whether such forced sexual activity takes place during matrimony, a woman may get pregnant as a result of her husband engaging in non-consensual sexual activity with her."

The court also noted that intimate partners can commit sexual assault.

The court stated that it is "very sad" that people have the idea that only strangers are accountable for sex- and gender-based violence.

According to the report, family-related sexual and gender violence in all of its manifestations has "long been a part of the lived realities of women."

For married women, special categories—including rape survivors, other vulnerable women, such as the differently-abled, and minors—the maximum window for terminating a pregnancy is 24 weeks; the corresponding window for unmarried women in consensual partnerships is 20 weeks.

In its August decision, the Supreme Court questioned why, while a married woman is allowed to terminate up to 24 weeks of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, and the Rules created under it, unmarried women are not, despite the fact that the danger is the same for both.