印度法院：婚內強姦不是罪

A man who allegedly drugged and raped his wife has been acquitted after a judge confirmed Indian rape laws do not apply to married couples.

Feminist campaigners said the judgment highlighted the failure of Indianlaw to protect the majority of women in the country – those who are married – from being raped or their right to refuse to have sex with their husbands.

In this latest case, the women, whose identity was not revealed, claimed her marriage was illegal and had been conducted against her will after she had been sedated.

A man, identified only as Vikash, had taken her to a registry office in Ghaziabad, just outside New Delhi, in March last year where he forced her to sign a marriage certificate while she was intoxicated. He later raped her and then fled, she alleged.

The accused denied drugging the woman or raping her and said their marriage had been consensual. She had only alleged rape six months after their marriage when they became involved in a property dispute.

In his judgment, Judge Virender Bhat said there was no evidence Vikash had drugged his wife or forced her to marry him but even if he had forced the complainant to have sex with him, it would not be a crime under Indian law.

"The prosecutrix (the wife) and the accused (Vikash) being legally wedded husband and wife, and the prosecutrix being major, the sexual intercourse between the two, even if forcible, is not rape and no culpability can be fastened upon the accused", the court ruled.

The ruling was made just over a year after the Indian government strengthened its rape laws and increased sentences amid a public outcry over the gang-rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.

The changes were based on the recommendations of the Verma Committee, headed by the late Justice Verma, who also urged the government to criminalise rape within marriage.

"Under the Indian Penal Code sexual intercourse without consent is prohibited. However, an exception to the offence of rape exists in relation to un-consented sexual intercourse by a husband upon a wife. The Committee recommended that the exception to marital rape should be removed. Marriage should not be considered as an irrevocable consent to sexual acts,” the Committee said in its report.

His recommendation however was rejected amid fears that it would encourage false cases and damage the institution of arranged marriages which are usually based on financial deals between families.

"Rape within marriage is not illegal in India which says everything about the position of women. We are donated for marriage rather than enter it as a partner. The ownership is with the man and whatever he does after marriage is acceptable", said Ranjana Kumari, a women’s rights campaigner who lobbied members of parliament on the issue.

Nilanjana Roy, a leading author and campaigner, said the law as it stands in India offers no protection to women raped by their husbands but can intervene in cases of domestic violence.

"Under Indian law, what the judge has said is correct and that is horrifying. It’s easier for a woman to file a case for a black eye. If a woman is being repeatedly raped in a marriage and he does not use extreme violence, she has no recourse in law, there is nothing she can do", she said.據外媒報道，在法官確認印度強姦法律不適用於已婚夫婦之後，一名涉嫌對其妻子服用麻醉劑後實施強姦的男子被判無罪。

女權活動家們說，該判決凸顯印度法律的缺陷，這些法律在印度本應保護廣大婦女（已婚婦女)不被強姦或其有權拒絕和丈夫做愛。

最新案件中，女受害者聲稱她的婚姻是非法的，是被灌醉之後做了違背意願的事。

去年3月，名叫Vikash的男人把她帶到新德里郊外的阿巴德一所登記處，在她不清醒的狀態下強迫她在結婚證書上簽字，後來又強姦了她，然後逃之夭夭。

被告否認給原告服用麻醉劑或實施強姦，並稱他們的婚姻是自願的。婚後六個月當他們發生財產糾紛時，她才指控丈夫強姦她。

在判決中，法官Virender Bhat表示：沒有證據表明Vikash給他的妻子下藥或強迫她嫁給他，但即使他強迫原告與其發生性關係，根據印度法律，也不是犯罪。

法院裁定：“女原告（妻子）和被告（Vikash）在法律上是合法夫妻，而且女原告（妻子）是成人，兩者之間的性交，即使是強迫，也不認定爲強姦，不能將罪行強加給原告。”

一年前，因新德里公交車上團伙強姦和謀殺一名學生引起公衆強烈抗議，印度政府修訂其強姦法並加重判刑。但法院依然做出了上述的裁決。

由大法官維爾馬爲首的委員會建議修訂法律，並敦促政府對婚內強姦定罪。

委員會在其報告中表示：“根據印度刑法，未經同意禁止發生性行爲。然而強姦罪的一個例外就是未經同意丈夫對妻子實施性行爲。委員會建議婚內強姦的例外應該被廢除。婚姻不應該被視作準許無條件地實施性行爲。”

然而，由於擔心這會助長虛假案件，並且還會損害常常基於兩家庭之間金錢交易的包辦婚姻制度，所以他的建議遭到拒絕。

就此問題遊說國會議員的婦女權利活動家蘭加納•古默裏說：“婚內強姦在印度並非違法，這一切反映了婦女的地位。與其說作爲伴侶結婚，倒不如說把我們捐贈給了婚姻。男人佔據主導權，而且婚後不管他做什麼都是可以接受的。”

大作家及活動家蘭加納•古默裏說，在印度就目前現狀來說，法律對被丈夫強姦婦女沒有提供保護，但可以干預家庭暴力案件。

蘭加納•古默裏說：“根據印度法律，法官所說的是正確的，但也是可怕的。對女人來說捱打更容易立案。如果一個女人在婚姻中多次被強姦，而其丈夫沒有用極端暴力的話，在法律上她沒有追索權，所以她也就無能爲力。”