Senior Congress leader and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor expressed profound shock on Thursday that India remains one of the few democracies globally where the issue of marital rape is not treated with the seriousness it warrants.
"I am shocked to find that India is one of the few democracies in the world where the case of a husband raping his wife without her consent is not treated with the seriousness as it should have been," Tharoor said at an event in Kolkata.
Tharoor noted that while the country possesses robust, stringent anti-rape legislation, the current law includes an exception for husbands, which he condemned as effectively granting legal immunity for non-consensual sexual acts within a marriage. He argued that leveraging a "conjugal relationship" to force intimacy against a life partner’s wishes constitutes a clear violation of law and a specific act of violence against women.
"Why should they (husbands) be exempted?" he said.
“We think a proper law against domestic rape is massively necessary in the country. It is however sad that even women ministers holding particular portfolios did not look into this aspect,” he said.
Tharoor was replying to a question by a female college student at the event during a 'tête-à-tea' with him and his sisters, Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan and Smita Tharoor, at the GD Birla Sabhagar in Kolkata.
Observing that there is an implicit assumption that "marital rape" can be allowed within a conjugal marriage, he reiterated, "It is not part of conjugal love — it is violence."
"We need to stand up for rights of women, which in many ways are being overlooked. We should speak out," Tharoor said.
Animosity toward Indian immigrants in US, Europe
In a separate discussion, when asked about the alleged rise in animosity toward Indians and other immigrant communities in the United States and Europe, Tharoor agreed with the observation.
He stated that the resentment and hostility directed at immigrants in these Western regions have become significantly more visible and overtly hostile.
"There is hostility to migrants, a xenophobia which is not just in the West but worldwide. People feel their dreams are being thwarted by people not like them. That hostility is increasing and is also visible in our country," he said.
"For young people going to US for scholarship my advice will be gain knowledge and then come back. Your city needs you. Your country needs you," he said.
