- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- 20 Pakistan coal miners shot dead in attack: police
- Blinken condemns China's 'increasingly dangerous' sea moves
- Toyota returns to Formula One as Haas partner
- EU chief says China must 'adapt its behaviour' to solve trade row
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- Lynx rally, stun Liberty in overtime in WNBA Finals opener
- Pogacar hunting 'perfect' season finale with Coppi's Il Lombardia record
- 'Soul of old Baghdad': city centre sees timid revival
- Kittle at the double as Niners hold off Seahawks
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Yankees advance in MLB playoffs as Guardians stay alive
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- Kamada says Japan can close in on World Cup place against Australia
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- Renewables revolt in Sardinia, Italy's coal-fired island
- Argentina held, Brazil leave it late in 2026 World Cup qualifiers
- Obama blasts 'crazy' Trump in first rally for Harris
- 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, a plea in favour of world order?
- Fry homers as Guardians down Tigers to stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Japan PM presses China's Li on airspace intrusion
- In Trump 'Truths,' conspiracies, attacks -- and doubts about the election
- How Sebastian Stan found a 'relatable' Trump for 'The Apprentice' biopic
- Panama's water wheel trash collector keeps plastic at bay
- It's still 'the economy, stupid,' says US political guru Carville
- Five key dates in the history of the America's Cup
- Zelensky to meet Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends
- At least 10 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Far from eye, Hurricane Milton's deadly tornados rampaged Florida
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Argentina held, Bolivia stun Colombia in 2026 qualifiers
- Socceroos have 'nothing to fear' from Japan
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial set for May 2025
- Bolivia stun Colombia in World Cup qualifiers
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Greece earn late win against England in Nations League, Italy-Belgium stalemate
- Trump biopic 'The Apprentice' hits US theaters weeks before election
- Pavlidis dedicates 'special' Greece win over England to tragic Baldock
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- 'Like a quake': Beirut shaken after deadliest strikes on centre
- Fallen giants Ghana in AFCON trouble after Sudan draw
- Asian leaders meet in Laos with US, Russia on world turmoil
- England gamble backfires as Pavlidis fires emotional Greece to victory
- Obama stumps for Harris, Trump talks US protectionism
- New-look France ease past Israel in Nations League
- Belgium fight back to draw with 10-man Italy in Nations League
- 'Get a life': Hurricane whips up US election storm
- Japan stay perfect in World Cup qualifying
The Indian women campaigning to criminalise marital rape
Raped by her husband on her wedding night aged 17, Divya described her repeated suffering -- an all-too-common account in India, permitted by a terrifying colonial-era legal loophole.
"I told him I have never had sex, and asked him if we can take it slowly and try to understand it," 19-year-old Divya said.
"He said: 'No, the first night is very important for us men'."
He then slapped her hard, ripped her clothes off and forced himself on her.
What followed her arranged wedding in 2022 was 19 months of sexual and physical abuse.
"If I was hurt, it was invisible to him," said Divya, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.
"He used to have sex with me ruthlessly".
Six percent of married women aged 18-49 report spousal sexual violence, according to the government's latest National Family Health Survey.
In the world's most populous country, that implies more than 10 million women have been sexual victims of their husbands.
Nearly 18 percent of married women feel they cannot say no if their husbands want sex, according to the health survey.
And 11 percent of women thought a husband was justified in beating his wife if she refused, it found.
- 'Victorian mentality' -
Under India's inherited British-era penal code, an exception clause stated that "sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape".
India introduced a new penal code on Monday but the exception clause remains -- although it does raise the minimum age that a man can rape his wife to 18.
Lawyer Karuna Nundy is challenging that.
Nundy, who has a case for the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) rights group at the Supreme Court, condemned the clause as "colonialism from a Victorian mentality".
She holds a "fervent hope" for change, mentioning some of the more than 50 nations who have outlawed it.
Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud called it an "important issue" this year.
But the decade-long case has made painfully slow progress.
In May 2022, a two-judge bench in the Delhi High Court issued a split verdict.
One judge, C. Hari Shankar, said that while "one may disapprove" of a husband forcibly having sex with his wife, that "cannot be equated with the act of ravishing by a stranger".
The other judge, Rajiv Shakdher, disagreed.
Shakdher said it "would be tragic if a married woman's call for justice is not heard even after 162 years", referring to the British-era statute.
Monika Tiwary from Shakti Shalini, a rights group which supports sexual violence survivors, said marriage should not shield a crime.
"How can marriage change the definition of rape?" she said.
"Getting married does not take away the rights over your body."
- Arranged marriages -
"Most of the survivors do not really have this understanding that it is not okay, and it is marital rape," Tiwary added.
"The moment we label it and attach a law to it, people start recognising it, awareness increases", Tiway added.
Divya's marriage was arranged, like many in India.
But her family did not pay the usual hefty cash dowry to the husband -- something he used against her.
"He would taunt me by saying 'It's not like your parents gave any dowry, I can at least do this'," Divya said.
"At times he would put a knife on my throat and dare me to say no. (He would say) 'You are my wife, I have full rights on you'."
Swati Sharma, a 24-year-old mother of two, said she married a man for love.
The first time her husband assaulted her was after their first daughter was born.
"I used to think: 'Okay, we are married, so we can do this'," she said.
- Death threats -
When he was angry, he would take it out on her. If she refused sex, he accused her of having an affair.
The tipping point came when he stripped her naked in front of their children, waiting until they slept.
"Then he proceeded to have sex with me," she said. "He didn't leave me till he had his way."
She packed her bags, took her children and left.
But despite the abuse, some women return to violent husbands fearing for their children, and under intense social pressure.
Sharma also returned to her husband, after he went to counselling and persuaded her to come back.
While Divya escaped, she still lives in fear.
Her husband messaged her mother threatening that he "will not let her live".
But she says she is "proud" that she left.
"There are many girls who still endure this, happening to them day and night," she said.
"Such men should be punished."
X.Karnes--AMWN