Forceful Sexual Behaviour

There are many forms of forceful sexual behaviour that you might encounter. Some of them are:

Forcefully Removing Your Clothes

Whenever a man forcefully removes or tries to remove your clothes, he is committing a crime. Under the law, this is known as the crime of disrobing. ¹

Even if he does not remove your clothes, but there is any intention or behaviour where you think he is going to remove your clothes by hurting you, that is enough for you to file a complaint against this man.

For example, if a man forcefully takes you to an empty house and removes your clothes with the intention of hurting you sexually, then he is committing a crime under the law.

He will be punished with jail time of a minimum of 3 years or up to 7 years with a fine.¹

Rape

Rape is a forceful act committed by a man when he: penetrates his penis or any object into your vagina, mouth, urethra, or anus or forces you to do this with him or another person, applies his mouth to your vagina, anus or urethra or makes you do this with him or any other person. ².

If you know someone who has been raped or the same happens to you, then the man doing this act will be punished with jail time anywhere between 7 years to life imprisonment with a fine. If you know a girl child below the age of 12 who has been raped then the accused person can be punished with the death penalty. ³

Marital rape is not an offence in India and you cannot file a complaint against your husband if he has raped you. However, you can file a complaint against him for domestic violence and seek immediate protection.

1. Section 354B, Indian Penal Code, 1860[↩][↩]
2. Section 375, Indian Penal Code, 1860[↩]
3. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018[↩]