Two Indian judges have expressed diametrically opposing views on marital rape in a much-awaited court verdict.
One of the judges has struck down an exception in a British-era law that says a man cannot be prosecuted for rape within marriage.
But the second judge refused to modify Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code which says sex “by a man with his own wife” who’s not a minor is not rape.
The case is now expected to be appealed in the Supreme Court.
Wednesday’s Delhi high court order comes as a setback for feminist advocates who have been campaigning for a change in the law, which has been in existence since 1860.
Over the years, more than 100 countries have outlawed marital rape – including Britain in 1991.