Delhi HC to hear plea seeking criminalisation of marital rape

The Delhi High Court will on Monday hear a plea seeking criminalisation of marital rape.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) requests that marital rape should be criminalised and treated as rape. The plea has also sought the provisions of rape to be made gender neutral.

On October 11, in an another case, the Supreme Court had said that sexual intercourse with wife below 18 years of age would be considered rape.

Earlier on September 8, the top court had informed the HC it was hearing a similar kind of petition with different grounds. It was told by the apex court that the matter concerned women between the age of 15 to 18 years, as against the PIL submitted in the Delhi High Court that concerned women of all age groups.

The high court was to hear the matter last month but had put it on hold after learning that the apex court has taken up a petition for hearing on a similar matter.

-ANI