India abolishes husbands' 'right' to rape wife
By Justin Huggler in Delhi
Friday, 27 October 2006
For the first time, women in India have legal protection against abuse
in their own homes under a law which came into force yesterday. It is
the first time Indian law has recognised marital rape, ***ual, emotional
or verbal abuse of a woman by her husband as crimes. India is a country
where the streets are safe - but a woman is not safe inside her own home.
There is a remarkably low rate of violent crime against strangers in
most of the big cities, and it is safe to walk the streets of Mumbai or
Bangalore late at night. But every six hours, a young married woman is
burnt to death, beaten to death, or driven to suicide by emotional abuse
from her husband, figures show.
More than two-thirds of married women in India aged between 15 and 49
have been beaten, raped or forced to provide ***, according to the UN
Population Fund.
One of the most common causes of violence against women is
dowry-related. In most of India, women's families are still expected to
provide their husbands with dowries when they marry.
Husbands - or their families - who are dissatisfied with the dowry beat,
emotionally abuse and often even kill the women.
Last year 6,787 cases were recorded of women murdered by their husbands
or their husbands' families because of their dowries. Many die in "stove
burnings": set alight by husbands or in-laws who then claim it was a
kitchen accident.
Domestic violence against women is already illegal, under a 1983 law.
But the new law marks the first time India has recognised marital rape.
Previously it was impossible to prosecute a man for raping his wife,
which was considered to be within his conjugal rights.
The new law also for the first time recognises emotional, verbal and
economic abuse of a woman by her husband as a crime. Punishment can
include a jail sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to 20,000
rupees (£230). Existing law already provides longer sentences for
physical violence.
But more im****tantly, the new law also provides a share of an abusive
husband's earnings and property for the victim, and medical costs.
Crucially, it also guarantees abused wives the right to continue living
in the family house. Houses are still shared by extended families in
much of India, and abused wives are often thrown out by their husbands'
in-laws, leaving them destitute and homeless.
"It's going to orient women to stand up for their own rights and take
the necessary precautions to empower themselves," said Renuka Chowdhury,
minister of women and child development. Previously many women are
believed to have been afraid to speak out because they risk losing their
husband's financial sup****t for themselves and their children.
But concerns remain that even under the new law, many cases of abuse
will still go unre****ted, unless attitudes towards domestic abuse
change. The UN Population Fund's 2005 re****t found that 70 per cent of
Indian women believed wife-beating was justified under certain
cir***stances, including refusal to provide ***, or preparing dinner late.
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