Majazi Khuda’: Unpacking the Disregard of Rape Laws in Pakistani Marriages

Marital rape is not a crime in Pakistan—not legally, not socially, and certainly not in the minds of those who believe that marriage grants men an irrevocable right over their wives’ bodies. This belief is not just a cultural oversight; it is a deeply entrenched ideology, upheld by distorted religious interpretations, colonial-era legal frameworks, and the pervasive influence of patriarchal South Asian traditions.

It took until January 15, 2024, for Pakistan to see its first conviction for marital rape. A man in Sindh was sentenced to three years in prison for sodomizing his wife. But even in this landmark case, the conviction was not based on non-consensual intercourse—it was based on sodomy, medically verified, and prosecuted under the ‘unnatural offences’ clause of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The ruling acknowledged the absence of consent, but it strategically sidestepped the broader issue of marital rape, leaving the door wide open for continued legal and societal denial.

The Enduring Myth of Automatic Consent

To understand why marital rape remains a non-issue in Pakistan, one must dissect the myth of Majazi Khuda—a term that translates to “husband as god.” This ideology dictates that a husband is his wife’s divine authority, reducing her to a being who exists solely to serve and obey. While Pakistan fiercely rejects elements of Indian culture in its national rhetoric, it has seamlessly integrated Pati Parmeshwar (the Hindu counterpart of Majazi Khuda) into its own social fabric, conveniently “Islamifying” it to justify male dominance.

This is not a coincidence; it is an inheritance. Colonial-era laws, shaped by British and pre-colonial Indian traditions, upheld patriarchal customs that denied women bodily autonomy. When Pakistan gained independence, it did not shed these frameworks. Instead, it reinforced them through the Hudood Ordinances of 1979, which not only made rape cases harder to prosecute but also failed to recognize marital rape as a crime, strengthening the idea that a woman’s consent is permanently signed away at nikah.

The Legal Void: Where the Law Refuses to Acknowledge Rape

Pakistan’s Penal Code, despite multiple amendments, still fails to recognize marital rape as a crime. Section 375 defines rape but explicitly excludes forced intercourse within marriage. The only legal provision that could be interpreted to address marital rape is the vague and selectively applied clause on ‘unnatural offences’—the very clause that led to the Sindh conviction.

The silence of the law speaks volumes. It reflects a society that refuses to see wives as individuals with agency. When rape is committed by a stranger, it is a crime; when it is committed by a husband, it is a marital right. This cognitive dissonance is not accidental—it is upheld by generations of conditioning that tell women their bodies do not belong to them.

Islam Misused: Distorting Religion to Justify Control

One of the most dangerous reinforcements of marital rape in Pakistan comes from the weaponization of religion. Clerics, community elders, and even judicial figures often argue that a woman cannot refuse her husband because Islam dictates obedience. But what Islam actually dictates is vastly different.

The Quran (Surah An-Nisa 4:19) explicitly states: “O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women by compulsion… And live with them in kindness.” Marriage in Islam is built on mutual respect and consent, not coercion. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) condemned forced intimacy, emphasizing, “The best of you are those who are best to their wives” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1978). Islam does not sanction marital rape—cultural distortions do.

The Unseen Victims: Trapped Between Silence and Stigma

The normalization of marital rape ensures that most victims never report their abuse. In a culture where a woman’s virtue is measured by her endurance, speaking out is not just difficult—it is dangerous. Survivors who dare to resist face victim-blaming, ostracization, and even retaliation from their own families.

Data on marital rape in Pakistan is scarce, not because it does not exist, but because it is not acknowledged. A report from War Against Rape (WAR) states that over 22,000 rape cases were reported in Pakistan over six years, yet only 0.3% resulted in convictions. These numbers do not account for marital rape, which remains largely invisible due to legal and societal refusal to recognize it as a crime.

*** Until Pakistan recognizes that marriage doesn’ t grant unlimited sexual access to Women’s Bodies, it remains Complicit in institutionalized violence, The cost of inaction is not measured in statistics; but in the silent suffering of countless wives whose rapist sleep beside them each night, protected by law, tradition and, twisted faith. This ends only when we demand it ends. Now.