Chiraiya: Consent Beyond ‘I Do’

By- Astha Samant & Yatharth Verma, Law Student, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies

Abstract

This article investigates the phenomenon of marital rape in India via a socio-legal analysis of the web series Chiraiya. It examines the erosion of the concept of consent within marriage, notwithstanding constitutional assurances of dignity and personal liberty as stipulated in Article 21. The article critically examines the persistence of the marital rape exception within the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, elucidating the ensuing legal and moral contradictions. The article emphasizes the pressing necessity for legal reform and societal transformation by linking the narrative of Chiraiya with current judicial discussions, such as RIT Foundation v. Union of India. It contends that marriage should not be regarded as universal consent to sexual relations and advocates for the acknowledgment of women's bodily autonomy within marital contexts.

Introduction

Marriage in Indian society is perceived by many as a holy institution and founded on trust, companionship, and mutual respect. The unpleasant truth, however, is that to most women, marriage turns into the place where the consent is implied but not explicitly demanded. This issue can be highlighted by the recent web series Chiraiya which reveals the lived reality of a woman who experienced non-consensual sexual relations in marriage. This brings a vital legal and ethical issue to the fore, which is: Does marriage mean unconditional consent?

Understanding Consent in Criminal Law

Sexual autonomy is based on consent. Consent under Indian criminal law should be informed, free, and voluntary. The concept of a woman losing the right to her bodily autonomy under the pretext of marriage directly contradicts the notion of dignity and the autonomy of a person guaranteed by the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Position Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)

The controversial exception relating to marital rape is not removed in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that replaced the Indian Penal Code in 2023. Sexual intercourse between a man and his wife is not rape provided the wife is above a certain age thus implied consent within marriage is legally allowed.

Such an exception is indicative of a highly patriarchal belief that a marriage gives an unconditional sexual access to the husband. While the law outlaws sexual violence outside marriage, it fails to do the same within marriage, which is rather ironic.

Chiraiya as a Social Lens

Chiraiya (2026) is a Hindi social drama, a 6-part series, directed by Shashant Shah and available on JioHotstar. It challenges the highly internalized truth about marital rape within Indian families, the common belief being that a marriage certificate is a lifetime, unconditional consent. The show, which was released on March 20, 2026, and available in 12 Indian languages, is being hailed as a long-overdue and long-needed, yet uncomfortable, reckoning with a topic that is frequently swept under the rug.

The show focuses on two main female characters who navigate life within a traditional, close-knit family. Kamlesh, the elder daughter-in-law and the moral pillar of the family is presented with a touch of extreme subtlety by Divya Dutta. First, she is the living patriarchy that she has internalized throughout decades of being the ideal bahu: efficient, devoted and conditioned to put family honor above everything. Her change is the emotional centre of the series. Pooja (Prasanna Bisht), a young, educated and new bride is in stark contrast with her hopeful experience into family life when her apparently innocent husband, Arun (Siddharth Shaw), rapes her on their wedding night. Whereas Pooja symbolizes the vocal, contemporary woman who does not want to be kept silent, the story of Kamlesh is one of the unlearning of conditioning in order to see that it is not a duty but a crime that took place.

The series has a strong relationship between its fictional story and the real-life legal and social aspect of marital rape in India where it is only criminalized under certain exceptions. Among the most catastrophic exchanges in the show is when Kamlesh, trying to justify the abuse, questions Pooja: Does somebody go and steal their own belongings out of their cupboard and make them a thief? The fact that Pooja responds with a rebuttal, I am not a thing, is the direct attack on the underlying mentality of objectifying wives as property. This is not a personal rebellion as critics have pointed out, but a structural rebellion, against a legal system that has traditionally seen marriage as an impunity in face of a crime. The tagline of the show, ShaadiLicenseNahiHai, supports this idea: marriage is no license to forced intimacy.

Chiraiya also does not want to present the abuser as a villainous figure. With flashbacks it reveals how men such as Arun are the victims of their up-bringing, they are brought up in some kind of unconscious feeling of entitlement and superiority, this is usually brought about by the same women who later propagate the system of silence. The male characters are consciously done, with the husband of Kamlesh (Faisal Rashid) symbolizing the complicit good man- kind and sympathetic, but with no courage to speak, famously, saying, I cannot be the hero, but I can be the husband of the hero. Chiraiya is not only a film about marital rape but also a study of the process of internalizing, enforcing and sustaining patriarchy at the family level. Some have criticized its delivery, but it is generally thought that Divya Dutta plays her part with conviction and the urgent, in-you face message of the series makes it a necessary though uncomfortable watch.

Legal and Constitutional Debate

The exception on marital rape has been a matter of controversy in the Indian courts. According to critics, it contravenes:

Article 14 (Right to Equality) by discriminating against married and unmarried women.

Article 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty) by undermining bodily autonomy.

There have been a number of petitions in the courts demanding that marital rape should be criminalized, yet the legislature is not able to decide on the matter.

The Indian Law of Rape: The BNS.

Criminal offenses are now ruled by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, in place of the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC). In the case of general rape, Section 63 of the BNS provides the definition of rape and the minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment which can be further increased to life imprisonment. This provision upholds the fundamental idea that any sexual intercourse without consent is a crime.

Another major addition is Section 69 of the BNS that makes sexual intercourse acquired through false pretenses criminal. This provision particularly applies to the situation where the man is found to have committed sexual acts under a false promise of marriage, employment and promotion or by masking his identity. According to one of the recent Delhi high court decisions, refusal to get married following a physical relationship, based on the promise of marriage, can get one charged under this section.

The BNS also brings about structural enhancement in management of sexual crimes. They are given precedence in a special chapter on Crimes against Women and Children. In cases of gang rape of a woman who is under 18 years the sentence is life imprisonment till the natural life of the convict or the death penalty. The law on procedural grounds fixes that the statement of the victim should be recorded by the police in audio-visual form, and a copy of the medical report should be provided to the investigating officer within seven days .

The Marital Rape Exception: A Loophole That Refuses to Be Closed.

Although these progressive developments have been made, the BNS still has the controversial marital rape exception. Exception 2 to Section 63 of the BNS provides that sexual intercourse or sexual acts conducted by a man with his own wife that the wife is not below the age of 18 years, would not amount to rape.

It is a legacy of the IPC of Section 375 Exception 2, which was itself based on an English common law doctrine of the 18th century where a wife was considered to have irrevocably consented to her husband at the time of marriage. England has since rejected this doctrine in R v R (1991) where it acknowledged marriage as a partnership of equals, but Indian law still perpetuates this legal fiction.

The effects of this exception are dramatic. Even the use of force and the absence of consent, a husband cannot be charged with rape when he forces his adult wife to perform a sexual act. Other provisions have been overridden by recent rulings of the High Court, which have extended this immunity to non-penetrative sexual acts. The courts also used the marital exception to prevent prosecution of husbands under Section 377 of the IPC (which concerned all sex outside of nature) to prevent prosecution of husbands in cases such as Gorakhnath Sharma v. State of Chhattisgarh (February 2025) and Manish Sahu v. State of Madhya Pradesh, in effect, stating that marriage license all sex between

The Constitutional Test and Disjointed Legal Reaction.

The marital rape exception is still under consideration in the Supreme Court in terms of its constitutionality. In May 2022, the Delhi High Court issued a divided judgment in RIT Foundation v. Union of India which delivered two conflicting judgments. Justice Rajiv Shakdher declared the exception to be unconstitutional, under Article 14 (equality) and 21 (dignity and personal liberty), and described it as a form of firewall that arbitrarily protects married men. Justice C. Hari Shankar however affirmed the provision on the basis of legislative competence and the fear of misuse. The case was sent to the Supreme Court in the absence of the majority.

Although the constitutional issue is unclear, the legal answer to marital sexual violence has been fractured. Other provisions have been tried by some courts to give remedies including Section 377 (now repealed) and Section 498A (marital cruelty). But as the recent decisions illustrate even these alternate paths are being blocked by the broad interpretation of the marital exception.

Conclusion

Chiraiya is not just a web series; it is a cultural and legal indictment of India's ongoing failure to make marital rape a crime. The story challenges the patriarchal idea that marriage means giving up your right to privacy and dignity (Article 21) by showing how the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita's outdated marital rape exception makes this gap even more painful.The series makes people face an uncomfortable truth: silence and legal loopholes keep violence going, not love. The BNS brings about progressive changes to sexual crimes, but keeping Exception 2 to Section 63 hurts gender justice. Because the courts are still divided and Parliament is taking its time, stories like Chiraiya are important—not just to raise awareness, but also to hold people accountable. The show's tagline, "Shaadi License Nahi Hai," sums up a basic point: marriage does not give you the right to force someone to do something. As long as the law doesn't match constitutional morality, every married woman's right to say "no" will be limited. A fair society can't wait any longer.

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