they will hide the fact and would not easily speak up about . They treat their physical injuries but completely ignore the mental injuries which marital rape has caused to them . Studies have shown that women who have faced marital rape , don ' t open up easily . It is only after sustained injuries and years of abuse when they finally speak up ,” she says .
She recalls a case when a wife of prominent and powerful person spoke up about marital rape . “ I have dealt with a case when a wife revealed that she has been a victim of rape and assault by his husband and inlaws . His husband has a lot of contacts with some prominent people from the judiciary , and is a powerful person . When she went on to register an FIR , the police did file an FIR but then they later said that she did not have a case at all . There was enough evidence for framing of charges against his husband , but the police was hostile towards her case because of his influence . So , even when women register cases against their husbands , the influence of the family which she belongs to does affect the case ,” she tells you . In such cases women are so traumatised that they just want to leave their homes . We live in a society where it is believed that ghar me sab sulajh jayega but this is not the case . It is only when these women have spoken to a number of people in the family and have tried every remedy at home that they want to move out and seek help . They are so much traumatised by that time that they want to leave their homes , but they can ’ t . These women go through psychological problems including stress . They tend to lose concentration in the daily household chores which again result in addition scolding by their family members . They are the primary caretakers of the house so if they are not in the right mental state then their children will also get affected by this . So , it is a mix of both physical and mental trauma that these women go through .
It is difficult to prove such cases because of the mentality of the people . First , it comes as a challenge to prove that is was rape and not consensual sex , in case of married couples . Second , is the attitude of the hospital staff in such cases . Three , the attitude of the society is that if you are married you automatically give consent to everything . Finally , the police is also not well-equipped when it comes to handling marital rape cases . Since , it is not criminalised in IPC and it comes as an exception , everyone asks you to settle the matter internally . The police is hostile towards such cases and they show a stereotypical behaviour where they ask you to go and compromise . �
www . legacyindia . in June 2019 | Legacy India 29