Shashi Tharoor Introduces Bill to Criminalise Marital Rape in Lok Sabha

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stunned the Lok Sabha on Friday by introducing a landmark private member’s bill that seeks to fully criminalise marital rape and delete the shocking immunity granted to husbands under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which currently treats non-consensual sex within marriage as perfectly legal as long as the wife is above 18 years of age.

Describing the existing exception as a shameful colonial relic rooted in the barbaric idea that a wife is her husband’s property, Tharoor argued that marriage cannot and must not extinguish a woman’s fundamental right to bodily autonomy, dignity, and personal security. He called for India to embrace the progressive global standard of “Only Yes Means Yes,” making it unequivocally clear that silence, relationship status, or past consent can never be twisted into presumed permission.

The accompanying statement of objects and reasons warns that the continued legal protection for marital rape leaves millions of married women uniquely vulnerable compared to unmarried women, perpetuates gender-based violence under the guise of tradition, and directly violates Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution that guarantee equality, non-discrimination, and the right to life with dignity.

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On the same day, Tharoor tabled two equally ambitious legislation: one bill to create a permanent, independent States and Union Territories Reorganisation Commission that would use census data, economic viability, cultural factors, and public sentiment to guide future boundary changes in a scientific and depoliticised manner; and another to overhaul the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code by imposing strict weekly hour limits, legally enforceable “right to disconnect” outside work hours, and compulsory mental-health support frameworks to combat the growing epidemic of burnout that has already claimed young lives.

Though private member’s bills seldom become law, Tharoor’s triple offensive has reignited nationwide debates on ending marital rape immunity, rationalising India’s federal map, and protecting employees from toxic overwork, placing intense moral and political pressure on the government to finally act on these long-delayed reforms.

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