“Her friends used to tell her it wasn’t rape if the man was your husband. She didn’t say anything, but inside she seethed; she wanted to take a knife to their faces.”
― F. H. Batacan
Has your spouse ever had sex with you without your consent?
Has your spouse ever forced himself on you?
Have you ever felt uncomfortable in the presence of your spouse?
Have you ever given in to your partner’s demand?
There is nothing like marital rape, Right?
Wrong!!!!!!!!
It is one of the sordid truths of many bedrooms- hushed up and never spoken about.
Yes, rape does happen within marriages too. For years, women have simply put up with it because of their partners’ demands thinking of it as the duty of a wife. A rape is a rape regardless of whatever relationship you are into- from a total stranger to someone who you have been married to. Rape is an unparalleled ordeal but, for a woman to be raped by her husband increases the agony. She ends up feeling betrayed, helpless and humiliated.
Uncommon poet Kriti Verma uses poetry to depict the feelings of betrayal one such wife, who represents countless others suffering the same ordeal!
I insisted him to stop.
Not because I did not love him,
but cause I could feel nothing like tenderness in his touch.
Nothing like warmth I would seek for.
He brushed his soul against mine and was able to sense how cold it was.
Too cold for me to breath!
I wanted to scream and say no on top of my lungs.
But I could not, cause if what he was doing was love then it was choking me to death.
I urged to be left alone,repelled, fought, cried and at last begged.
But all my efforts went in vain.
One look in his eyes left me startled.
Ego, hatred, lust and all the evilness of his heart managed to escape from his eyes and fell all over my body, burning my soul alive.
Hours went by, he tore my inner being and nothing like affection, intimacy or ardor was left among us to cherish ever.
Morning rays touched a lifeless naked body lying on the ground and passed right through the newly cracked soul.
But somewhere amongst the chaotic voices of my heart and self, my ears managed to catch the chuckling of an angel.
My little baby girl.
How unaware she was of the fact that her own father was a monster!
But I shall not tell her or anyone ever.
I should hold my broken self in and make breakfast for the man who raped me last night.
This is what I am supposed to do right?
I surely will …Cause once, in a white serenely exquisite dress I said “I do” and hence he never have to ask me again.
Cause this is his right. If he is married to me, how can he rape me?
This poem is hard hitting and leaves a deep impact. It portrays how a wife’s consent does not matter when it’s the husband’s demand she needs to give in.It’s the worst feeling to live with a rapist, serve and listen to him too.
We applaud the courage of women who come out and speak their mind; sharing with us a strongly worded poem impressing upon such matters! While most of the countries have criminalized marital rape, there is no such law in India. It’s high time there is a change in the Indian constitution and women are protected against such atrocities. There should not be any pardon for the man just because he is the husband!
“A woman – termed as the better half of her life-partner deserves love, respect, equality, caring, and right to have her say.We at The Uncommon Box strongly condemn marital rape and support the cause to support and empower women to voice their concern rather than silently suffer.”
We would appreciate your thoughts and feedback on the ways in which we could all get together to urge more people to spread awareness about this sensitive issue.
Picture credits: Yashasvi Walia
Poem By : Kriti Verma
The content for this feature was developed by Tasneem Bharmal in association with The Uncommon Box.
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