Excerpts from an interview with lawyer Meera Dhungana in Tarun, 5 August. Dhungana sued the state for equal property rights for women and pleaded the petitioners' case in the recent litigation on marital rape.

Tarun: Was your litigation on marital rape based on researched evidence?
Meera Dhungana: After the court decision we visited Nawalparasi. There we came across a teacher whose husband had forced her to have sex a day after she had given birth to her child. She died due to excessive bleeding.

The case you argued (marital rape) was controversial.
It was no surprise in our patriarchal society. Maybe those who criticised it did not respect their wives? Otherwise, there was no reason for all the fuss.

Won't the decision distort our social norms?
Why should it? If the husband uses force and the couple cannot live together, there is a provision for divorce, or the court would have to think of finding a way to separate the couple. Will that bring about a skewing of society? Can I have a (sexual) relationship with my husband without his consent?

But this (the court decision) has created a basis for that.
What's wrong if the number of divorce cases increases? Why should a woman continue living where she is not respected and where her decisions have no sway? It would be better to divorce (under such situations) Please try to think from a woman's point of view.

Are women still discriminated against?
Our study shows that 54 laws and 118 clauses in them discriminate directly against women. Another 67 regulations are also discriminatory. It that is the law, imagine what the situation is in society.