Kolkata/IBNS, Dec. 11 -- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has strongly criticised the legal provision that exempts husbands from India's rape law as he introduced a private member's bill in Parliament seeking its removal.

Tharoor's bill, tabled during the ongoing Winter Session, proposes an amendment to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the country's principal criminal law, to strike down the exception that shields a husband from prosecution for non-consensual sex with his wife if she is over 18.

The exception effectively means marital rape is not legally treated as rape in India.

Tharoor argued that this framework ignores a fundamental truth: "Marital rape is not about conjugal rights, love or the conduct of a marriage - it is about violen...