Exception to marital rape in BNS: Sends message that woman’s consent irrelevant, says TMC’s O’Brien

New Delhi, 12/2: The “archaic” exception provided to marital rape in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sends a dangerous message that a woman’s right to consent is irrelevant once she enters into a marriage, TMC leader Derek O’Brien said on Wednesday.

The TMC’s parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha, who last week introduced a private member’s bill to scrap the exception, called it a direct violation of women’s constitutional rights, including personal liberty, equality and privacy.