The Supreme Court of India, in October 2024, questioning the logic behind the exclusion of marital rape as a criminal offence, questioned how preliminary acts of confinement, assault of a wife and criminal intimidation all amount to an offence, but the ‘act of forced sexual intercourse is alone not a crime ’. Illustration by The Geostrata According to the National Health Family Survey , conducted in 2022, nearly one in three women has fallen victim to spousal sexual and ph