Graphic Novel: How a Woman Escaped a Life of Marital Rape & Abuse After 6 Years

Beyond the laws are stories of women – who have been fighting, marital rape for years. This is one such story.

(Photo: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

Illustrations: Deeksha Malhotra

Scriptwriters: Mythreyee Ramesh and Shelly Walia

The Delhi High Court on 11 May, delivered a split verdict in the marital rape exception case with both judges on the two-judge division bench arriving at different conclusions. Exception 2 of the Indian Penal Code's Section 375 makes non-consensual sex by husband with his wife not a crime.

Beyond the laws are the stories of women, who have been fighting, surviving the heinous crime for years, with barely any legal protection.

The story of Anita, a 23-year-old woman from Rajasthan, who escaped a life of marital rape and violence after six long years – in the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

(Name and certain details of survivor and her child has been changed to protect their identity. Trigger Warning: Descriptions of marital rape and violence. Reader discretion advised.)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)