In a legacy passed down by the British colonisers, India shares its criminal code with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where marital rape is also not a crime. Our rape laws very clearly exempt marital sexual offences provided the wife’s age is above 18. The exemption dates back to the remarks of British judge Sir Matthew Hale in 1736, who said that women are the contractual property of their husbands. This point of view became a part of the English common law that was enforced in all its colonies.
Centuries later, this remark dressed as an exemption continues to impact India’s criminal code.