Just as the Delhi High Court was hearing a plea filed by an NGO opposing several petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence, former Governor Swaraj Kaushal on Twitter denied anything like marital rape exists.

Kaushal, a senior Supreme Court advocate, is also the husband of Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and is often seen tagging his high-profile wife in his tweets.

"There is nothing like marital rape. Our homes should not become police stations," Kauhsal, who goes by handle @governorswaraj on Twitter, said when a user called Amit Choudhary (@HesperusThinks) asked him if he is defending marital rape.

Choudhary's question - "Are you defending marital-rape?" - was triggered by another tweet by Kaushal in which he had posted a news story about the Centre telling the High Court today that it cannot criminalise marital rape.

"There will be more husbands in the jail, than in the house," Kaushal had commented with a link to a LiveLaw.com story on the court hearing.

Screenshot courtesy: Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) / Twitter Screenshot courtesy: Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) / Twitter

Screenshot courtesy: Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) / Twitter Screenshot courtesy: Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) / Twitter

Screenshot courtesy: Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) / Twitter Screenshot courtesy: Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) / Twitter

The Delhi High Court today was hearing a plea filed by an NGO called agreed Men Welfare Trust, which claims to represent men victimised by alleged misuse of gender laws and hence, opposes several petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence.

The Centre argued that criminalising marital rape would "destabilise the institution of marriage" and become "an easy tool for harassing the husbands". The government also claimed there is no evidence in case of such sexual acts between a man and wife.

The NGO further claims in its plea that when a person gets married, he or she gives consent to the spouse to have sex and any such sexual act cannot be termed as rape.

If there is physical harm to either of the parties, then it may be called sexual assault for which there are laws already in place, it says, adding that in case of divorce or separation, the woman effectively withdraws her consent for having sexual relations with her estranged husband.

Marital rape (or spousal rape) is an act in which one of the spouses indulges in sexual intercourse without the consent of the other.

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