KATHMANDU, May 2 -- The Supreme Court (SC) has reduced the sentence of a man convicted of marital rape from eight years to just two months.

Although the ruling came after the man had already spent five years in jail, this is expected to set a new precedent on cases related to marital rape in the days ahead, recognizing the different nature of the crime.

The apex court overturned the earlier rulings passed by the District Court and the then Appellate Court arguing that marital rape not be considered the same as rape.

A full text of the verdict issued by a division bench of justices Prakash Man Singh Raut and Kumar Regmi on September 30, 2021 was released recently, clarifying that marital rape and rape are different crimes. The law defin...