Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Binoy Viswam submitted a private member Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Saturday.
This Bill was named the Criminalisation Of Marital Rape Bill, 2022 and is intended to be introduced and discussed in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.
CPI MP Binoy Viswam in a conversation with ANI, said, "The Bill aims at criminalizing the marital rape by substituting Exception 2 of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code with the consent of the survivor for sexual intercourse shall not be presumed based on the marital status, previous conduct, clothing, sexual history, class, or any other previous social attribute of the female partner."
"The Bill states that the marital rape exception in the existing law violates the fundamental rights of women by commodifying their bodies for their husbands," Viswam said.
He further read out the statement and objective of the Bill as: "In a country where sexual violence within families is still a taboo, any attempt from the state to protect and preserve the institution of marriage at the cost of women's subjugation goes against the principles of a civilised nation and everything it stands for. It is pertinent and necessary to remove this exception and insert a non-presumption clause to this law as it is a violation of a woman's bodily rights in their daily life and criminalisation of marital rape is need of the hour."
The amended provision will ensure the bodily autonomy of women and criminal law redressal if violated, he said.
Previously, the CPI MP had also given a notice to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General to 'move for leave' for introducing the Private Member Bill 'The Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Superstitutious Practices Bill, 2022' in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.
"Such practices destroy society and deceive people to take extreme steps. There are certain people who misuse religious and cultural practices to exploit people," Viswam told ANI.
( With inputs from ANI )
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