Divya on marital rape: Shaadi license nahin hai

Mahima Pandey (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 19, 2026)

Actor Divya Dutta has portrayed an ideal wife and daughter-in-law several times onscreen. However, off-camera, the 48-year-old candidly shares that she is open to love, but not marriage.

“You should get married for the right reasons. Marriage is an institution that needs two people who grow together. If that is something that I’m not finding right, then I will not get married,” says Divya, whose upcoming social drama show Chiraiya aims to raise awareness about marital rape in the country.

Divya explains, “Rather than have a tumultuous or a disturbed marriage, I’d rather be happily single. I feel I’m at a stage where what I need is companionship and not marriage. That’s my choice, and that’s how it is.” She adds that one should never say never: “I’m not saying no to anything. But as of now, that’s my situation. I’m very happy with it.”

When Salman Khan, one of India’s most famous bachelors, is mentioned, Divya responds, “I think ek Salman ki, aur ek meri, mujhe lagta hai aisi bahut audience hai jinko lagta hai ‘iski shaadi karwa deni chahiye’, pata nahi kyun. I have answered this question so many times. I want to say, ‘Theek hai bhai, meri shaadi karwa do’.”

Sharing her perspective on the issue of marital rape, actor Divya Dutta emphasises the importance of consent, which is the premise of her upcoming web series.

She insists that marriage does not automatically imply consent, explaining, “The answer is, ‘Shaadi license nahin hai’. It’s about the way you go about respecting your partner. Imposing something should not be licensed out. Consent is very important.”

Divya emphasizes the need for basic respect in every relationship, calling it “a must”, adding how the lack of it actively normalizes such a serious and sensitive issue.

“There are stories (of marital rape) floating around all of us. I would know some people who’ve gone through it, but we tend to normalize it because you feel, ‘This is within the norms of a marriage, husband-wife ke beech ki baat hai’,” she says, adding, “But what I’m saying is that a lot of women feel very alone in the whole process. But that’s not what you’re supposed to do.”

She calls for awareness and sensitisation among men, especially those who get married off at a young age without being educated about the issue: “There’s this thing that men, especially boys, don’t know the concept of what is right or wrong. They believe, ‘Haan mera hai, toh for granted hai’. That is the attitude we have.”

To bring about a difference, the actor believes the social issue must be dealt with by society itself. “What we definitely need is a little bit of tweaking in our thinking, in our conditioning that we have, in how we feel that ‘ladki ki na mein haan hai’ is okay,” she concludes.