Tuesday 20 / May / 2025
Muscat: A bill to criminalise marital rape in India has been proposed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
The 'Women's Sexual Reproductive and Menstrual Rights Bill, 2018' was proposed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in the Lok Sabha, with the politician and former international diplomat describing it as integral to protecting the rights of women.
In a statement online Tharoor said, "The Women's Sexual, Reproductive & Menstrual Rights Bill which I introduced in the LS, ensures a woman's agency over her sexual and reproductive rights. Marital rape would be criminalised, consent must be given primacy and the right to access sanitary pads is recognised.
"We must move from "No Means No" to "Only Yes Means Yes". My Bills can only become law if the Govt agrees to facilitate their enactment in Parliament. I have made the effort to draft these Bills and put them in the public domain. Now it's up to Govt & LS to pass them,” he added.
The bill was among four introduced by the veteran Congress member, with the others focusing on literary freedom, sports, and disaster management.
He added, "I introduced The Freedom of Literature Bill to fortify literary freedom by removing outdated provisions which are not congruent with the spirit of democracy, such the anti-blasphemy & 'obscenity' laws. My Bill also substantially curbs the power of the Govt to ban books."
The 62 year-old also said he "introduced the Sports (Online Gaming & Prevention of Fraud) Bill to penalise sports fraud. The increasing commercial nature of sports increases the possibility of manipulating sporting events. The Bill legalises & regulates online sports betting to address this issue."
Tharoor also stated he was keen to establish a national fund for rehabilitation and reconstruction work following disasters through the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill.
"It mandates a 30 day period to the Centre to provide adequate funds to the affected State & prevents arbitrariness in allotment."
