A Chronology Of Marital Rape Exception Under Indian Law

The Delhi High Court today delivered a split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape and granted leave to the parties to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Following is the chronology of events on the marital rape exception in criminal law and the issue of its criminalisation, on which the Delhi High Court Wednesday delivered a split verdict.

1860: Indian Penal Code (IPC) comes into force with the marital rape exception being applicable to women above 10 years of age.

1940: IPC is amended and the marital rape exception is made available to women above 15 years of age.

Jan 11, 2016: Delhi High Court issues notice to Centre and seeks its stand on the first petition challenging marital rape exception in IPC.