Executive Summary
“Some of the falsely accused have committed suicide
after being jailed, unable to bear the social consequences”
“ Unconstrained, this social evil is threating the foundaton
of the Indian family system”
The Supreme Court of India says,“But by misuse of
the
provision (IPC 498a - Dowry and Cruelty Law) a new legal
terrorism can be unleashed. The provision is intended
to be used a shield and not an assassin’s weapon”.
Laws originally
meant to protect from the dowry menace are being misused by urban
ill-intentioned, unscrupulous women and their families as “an
assassin’s
weapon” .
There is a rapidly escalating social evil in Indian families,
namely the
misuse of the Dowry and Cruelty laws (Criminal Laws), which were
originally meant to act “as a shield” for the protection
of harassed
women. Nowadays, the educated urban Indian women have turned the
tables.They have discovered several loopholes in the existing Indian
judicial system and are using the dowry laws to harass all or most
of the
husband’s family that includes mothers, sisters, sisters-in-law,
elderly
grandparents, disabled individuals and even very young children.
We are not talking about the dowry deaths or physical
injury cases,
but about dowry harassment cases that require no evidence and can
be filed just based on a single-sentence complaint by the wife.
With an approximately 60,000 such accusations per year, about
200,000 people are directly affected by these false accusations.
The number of such cases has increased by about 100% in the last
10 years and by more than 15% in just the last two years. This poorly
formulated law is inviting unscrupulous people to file false cases,
and
causing the imprisonment of innocent people without investigation.These
innocent people undergo stigmatization and hardship even before
a trial in
the court of law which leads to immense emotional, physical and
financial trauma.
Unable to bear the harassment, the loss of reputation and the social
consequences
of being implicated in a false criminal case, some of these falsely
accused
husbands and their elderly parents are committing suicide.
Despite the recommendations of the Supreme Court of India and
Justice
Malimath Committee that the legislative arm should modify the laws
such
that the innocent are protected, the suggested amendments to the
law
have been largely ignored. Unconstrained, this social evil is threating
the
foundaton of the Indian Family system.
We are a large group of several thousand families unwilling to
succumb to
Legal Terrorism, with a belief that truth shall prevail.
Introduction
What is Section 498a of the IPC (Indian Penal
Code)?
Section 498a of the IPC is a criminal law in which the wife
and her family can charge any or all of the husband’s family
of physical or mental cruelity.This law is unique to India as
it not only discriminates based on gender (man Vs. woman),
but also discriminates against women based on their
relationship with the husband.Typically, the charged family
members in these cases include:
-
Mostly women of all ages (unmarried, married and pregnant sisters
of the husband, his mother and sisters-in-law, elderly grandmothers
and aunts)
-
Other maternal and paternal relatives and even young children
in the family.
For every complaint filed by a woman, there are generally
twice as many or more women are accused although the
married couple may have never lived with any of the people
mentioned in the criminal complaint.
IPC- 498a is
-
Cognizable – The accused can be arrested
and
jailed without warrant or investigation
-
Non-Compoundable – The complaint cannot
be
withdrawn by the petitioner
-
Non-Bailable – The accused must appear
in the
court to request bail
The accused are presumed guilty, and for all practical
pursposes, the burden is on the accused to prove innocence
in the courts. The FIR is typically an imaginary story, running
into many pages, with absolutely no supporting evidence.
It typically takes about 7 to 8 years for the accused to prove
their innocence in the courts. Due to the overwhelmingly
large number of false cases, the conviction rate in these cases
is close to zero. The delay in the provision of justice amounts
to the denial of justice.
There is no penalty for the misuse of IPC 498a, and
after acquittal of the accused, the courts are reluctant
to entertain defamation and perjury cases against the
falsely testifying witnesses.
Why do people misuse IPC 498a?
-
Legal Extortion – Get-rich-quick-scheme
to extort
large amounts of money
-
Prior Relationship – Wife has a prior
relationship,
and cannot get out of it. She marries to satisfy her
parents, and then misuses the 498a law in order to
obtain a divorce
-
Adultery – Women who indulge in adultery
use
498a as a bargaining tool
-
Domination – Wife wants the husband to
abandon
his parents and siblings, and have total control over
his finances and social behavior
-
Custody - Deny the father and his family access
to
their child(ren).
-
Fraudulent Marriages - in which the bride (and
her family)
hides her education level or mental health;
and when is justifiabily asked to release the person
who has gone into marriage without knowing the
full facts; she files a false 498a case
What do the courts, governments and Non-
Government Organizations (NGO) say?
-
The Supreme Court and High Courts have
acknowledged this ‘misuse’ as a growing menace in
the society and have recommended the legislature
to amend the law
-
Justice Malimath committee recommended that IPC
498a be made bailable and compoundable.
-
The US State Department has issued a travel
warning regarding the misuse of dowry laws in
India, and highlighted the fact that Indian courts
require large sums of money to settle such cases
-
The Canadian Government has issued a similar
warning
-
The WHO has explicity mentioned that 498A is one
of biggest reasons for elder abuse in India.
-
Many women’s organizations, including several State
Commissions for Women, have acknowledged the
misuse of these laws and have recommended similar
protection for men.
What does 498a do to society?
-
Abuse of the Criminal Judicial System
-
Elder Abuse – Most senior citizens who
have never
been to the police stations or courts in their lifetime
are dragged into jail without investigation and then
into court cases that span several years
-
Women Abuse – Many women in the husband’s
family are abused by the process
-
Abuse of entire extented family – Many
in the
husband’s family lose their jobs/earnings
-
Cruelty towards Children – Separation
of parents
from children, including infants results in trauma
-
Unequal rights (not only women vs. men but
also women vs. women) – The wife/daughter-inlaw
can file charges against all the women in the
husband’s family even if they are innocent but the
female relatives of a husband do not have similar
legal provisions for protection from a daughterin-
law or sister-in-law even in cases where she is
abusive
-
Disintegration of families – Due to fear
of being
implicated in a false 498A case, parents have
now started to legally disown their sons before or
immediately after marriage.The terror of this law has
resulted in the break up of numerous families.
-
Suicides of innocent people – Unable
to bear
the harassment and the humiliation they suffer
after being charged in a false criminal case, many
people, including aged senior citizens, have been
committing suicides.
“Spare a Thought for Dowry Law Abuse” - Current State
Please take a moment to read through what a lot of
newspapers, judiciary and media are saying about IPC- 498a
(commonly known as Indian dowry law).
“Nowadays lots of men are experiencing pre-wedding
jitters. The reason:They are terrified of misuse of the
anti-
dowry law.” - Vijay Times, Bangalore,Thursday 07 April, 2005
“The police should realize that it is not a matter
between two individuals, not even between two
families, but several families, such as in-laws”
- The Hindu,
September 17th, 2004.
“Its time that the law is changed and punishment
for
these false accusations be made the same as that meted
out to those who are really guilty of such acts.”
“The anti dowry law has number of loopholes and it is high
time that our society wakes up and takes a strong note to
amend these one sided laws which are eventually breaking up
our Indian marriage system” - www.hindustan.net,
July 27th, 2005.
“The abuse of anti-dowry laws has become serious
enough that
the United States Department of State has published a travel warning
about “Dowry/Visa Demands” for travelers to India”
- Lisa Tsering, India West, December 30th, 2004.
“In urban area, marital problems are sometimes compounded
by the confrontationist advice given to distressed
women by aggressive NGOs”. “I also feel that the addition
of “emotional” to verbal and physical abuse as a ground
for seeking legal protection is liable to rampant misuse.”
- Chandan Mitra,The Pioneer
(http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_
variable=Columnist&file_name=mitra% Fmitra1 . txt&writer=mitra)
The judicial authorities of India, in number of landmark
judgments, have taken a serious view of the growing
tendency to falsely implicate innocent members of the
husband’s family in dowry cases. Describing misuse of IPC498a
law as “legal terrorism”, the Supreme Court said no
one
could be allowed to unleash frivolous proceedings on this
count as the provisions of Section 498a “is intended to be
used a shield not as an assassin’s weapon.”
“The stringent dowry laws, meant to deter dowry-seekers,
are being increasingly misused by the very people they are
meant to protect.The last three years have seen a steep rise
in the number of cases of harassment for dowry”.
(Ref: http://
cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=170603 ).
Ajaib Singh, head of the Women and Child Support Unit, says 70
percent
of the 1,000-odd cases that they receive every year pertain to dowry,
but only 20 percent of these are genuine.‘‘It
is unfortunate that more
and more people are misusing the stringent provisions of
the law out of sheer spite.’’
‘‘People generally use this law to facilitate a divorce.
And often, it’s
the lawyers who advise the women to implicate their in-laws under
the provisions
of this Act,’’ says Shantosh Singh, chairperson of Women
Welfare Counseling Cell.
Often, the number of items given in dowry is inflated to claim a
high settlement amount.
“There are only 10 per cent cases based on truth, and people
usually come to us
and ask specifically to mention the element of dowry in their divorce
petitions,”
says Amrikh Singh Kalra, advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Mahila Thana Station (Lucknow) Officer Vijay Laxmi
Pandey says,‘‘in most cases, it begins with an ego problem
which finally leads to a threat of dowry complaint.We try
our best to solve these cases by providing a non-police
station like atmosphere to counsel the couples.’’‘‘Cases
of dowry harassment in love marriages are also on the
rise. Growing differences between couples after few years
of marriage is the reason in most cases and evidences
provided against the husband are often found to be very
flimsy during investigation,” says Pandey.The Lucknow
Mahila Thana gets at least three cases every week and
those filing the complaints are the harassed husbands of
women who threaten to use the Dowry Protection Act to
their convenience. However, there is no provision under the
law to convert such a complaint, made by a husband, into
FIR and book the wife. According to lawyer Rohit Kant,‘‘The
Section 498a ( 3/4 ) Dowry Protection Act and 406 of Indian
Penal Code are the two Sections which come handy in filing
complaints against husbands.The vice-a-versa doesn’t work.’’
(Reference: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.
php?newsid=169738).
While dowry death and dowry related harassment cases
have been widely discussed, debated and analyzed, often
becoming the headlines of the leading dailies, the gross and
growing misuse of anti-dowry laws has been ignored by the
media and the government.
The number of innocent families victimized by the misuse
of 498a is increasing alarmingly.These innocent families are
looked upon as culprits by the neighbours, the society and
the law enforcement authorities when police visit their home
and arrest them. Some of them, have committed suicide
because of the ignominy they had to suffer. “There have
been instances where mother or father have died of shock
or committed suicide because the humiliation of a false
criminal case was too much to bear,’’ writes Kusum,
a prolific
writer on gender issue, in her thought provoking book
“Harassed Husband”. ‘’If this trend continues
it is not unlikely
that women themselves might suffer as they would lose
credibility and sympathy of the society. Innocent, simple girls
are more likely to suffer because of malicious complaints by
clever and unscrupulous women’’, Kusum warns. Many men
have also committed suicide rather than face humiliation.
A bank employee hanged himself in his flat in Maya
Puri, Delhi. The wife often used to stay with her parents.
His efforts to persuade his wife to return to his home only
resulted in his wife filing a false dowry complaint against
him. Another man immolated himself in New Delhi.
The reason being complaint of ‘dowry demand’
by his
estranged wife which led him to jail twice. A 40 year old
ex-Airforce officer, committed suicide in Ahmedabad,
Gujrat, after being implicated in a false 498A case
during which he was jailed for 10 days. Unable to cope
with the “mental torture” inflicted by his wife, a
30 year old
man committed suicide in Krishnagar, West Bengal,
on Jan 3, 2007. He had been dragged to the police station,
on at least a dozen occassions in the past five years, by his
wife, complaining of torture, which were confirmed to be
false by the additional suprintendent of police. Another
man committed suicide in Ahmedabad on Nov 19, 2006
after being harassed in a false 498A case. He was the only
son of his aged parents. A 30 year old man from Kolkata
committed suicide on Sept 1, 2006, after being
implicated and arrested in a 498A case in 1999. Even
after 7 years, his case was subjudice when he died.
Numerous senior citizens are also commiting suicide due to
harassment faced due to false 498A cases. A 64 year old
man, a retired employee of a multi-national company,
committed suicide in Kolkata, explicity mentioning
about 498A in his suidice note stating further that “I
am
ending my life unable to bear the torture meted out to me
by my daughter-in-law”. Another senior citizen from
Ludhiana, Punjab, killed himself by throwing himself
before a running train and left behind a suicide note that
read “I am ending my life because the parents-in-law of my
son have filed false cases against me and my family”.
An old couple from Faridkot, Punjab, killed themselves
by consuming persticides on Jun 20, 2006. It was
revealed that the deceased were feeling harassed and
terrorised after their daughter-in-law got a criminal case
registered against them for bringing insufficient dowry.
Humiliated and on the run, they committed suicide clarifying
in the suicide note that they never harassed their daughter-in-
law for dowry.
“There have been sporadic cases where the woman left
her matrimonial house within few days of marriage and
filed a long list of ‘dowry’ in the complaint filed
against the husband”
The terror of this law has completely destroyed and
annihilated several innocent families. An entire family
consumed poison on Feb 3, 2007 in Alwar, Rajasthan.
The husband, an engineer, and his father died, while his
mother was admitted to Hospital. Right from the starting of
marriage, the bride’s family used to harass the husband by
threatening to implicate him and his entire family in the false
cases related to Dowry. Another instance of mass suicide
involving three members of a family was reported a few
years ago in Ballabgarh, Haryana. In this case, the husband
himself, his young sister and their hapless mother
consumed poison and ended their lives because of the
growing unreasonable demand of the daughter-in-law
and the continuous harassment inflicted by her family.
These few instances illustrate the terror that has been
created by anti-dowry laws in the minds of a large number of
husbands who feel captive in the hands of their own wives.
While some hapless men, unable to live a harassed and
humiliated married life, prefer to die, many others live
their married lives under constant fear of being falsely
implicated under section 498a.They are forced to meet
unreasonable demands, tolerating unruly behavior of their
wives only for family’s Izzat.
The Dowry Prohibition Act passed in 1961 proscribed
giving or taking of any valuable security or property in
‘’consideration of marriage’’.To plug the
loopholes in the
law, the definition of dowry was widened by amendments
in 1984 and 1986, to include any property or valuable
security given or agreed to be given at, or before, or at any
time after the marriage.To further check this deep-rooted
social evil, sections 113 A and 113 B were introduced in the
Indian Evidence Act and section 406 and 498a in the Indian
Penal Code (IPC).The objective was to give legal protection
to the married women against victimization by the dowry
greedy in-laws. But, these laws have now become a
handy weapon for many women to blackmail, harass,
humiliate and falsely implicate the innocent members
of the in-laws family in ‘dowry-demand cases’ and
extract money from them before finally settling the
marital discord or dispute. The cause of dispute may
be something else like sexual dissatisfaction, drinking or
smoking by the husband, lack of privacy, financial constraints,
husband’s ‘extra leaning’ towards his parents
or brothers and
sisters, or even wife’s own leaning towards her own family
or some other man which may not be liked by the husband.
In such cases ‘demand of dowry’ becomes an easy excuse
for
many women with two advantages in mind - getting rid of
the man and extraction of Moti Rakam (hefty amount) by
forcing the panicked husband and his family to agree to the
terms dictated by her.
According to a newspaper report, in 90 per cent of the
cases coming to the Crime Against Women Cell (CAWC),
Nanakpura, Delhi, the lists of dowry, filed by the women
are exaggerated.These contain, among other things
such as, items, which either were never given in dowry or
were already in possession of the woman.While request
for retrieval of stridhan (jewelry) tops the lists submitted
by women to CAWC,‘demand of money by in-laws’ figures
next, the report says.The newspaper report also discloses
that between 20 to 30 per cent of the cases reaching the
CAWC are such that although the stridhan was actually
in possession of the women, they still lodged complaint
against their husbands.
This tendency to harass the in-laws is more common among
those women who do not want to compromise with their
husbands or intend to remarry.Their intention is to extract
as much money and material as possible from the marriage.
There have been sporadic cases where the woman left her
matrimonial house within few days of marriage and filed a
long list of ‘dowry’ in the complaint filed against
the husband.
Women tend to implicate a large number of members of
the husband’s family due to the simple reason that the
greater the number of accused, the higher the chances of
extracting hefty amount of money as settlement.Taking a
serious note of this growing tendency, the Supreme Court of
India has held that for the fault of the husband, the in-laws
or other relatives cannot, in all cases, be held to be involved
in dowry death.‘’In cases where such accusations are
made,
the overt acts attributed to persons other than the husband
are required to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. By mere
conjecture and implications such relations cannot be held
guilty of the offence relating to dowry deaths,’’ the
court
observed while allowing an appeal against a verdict of the
Punjab & Haryana High Court in a dowry death case. Earlier,
the Joint Director of the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police had
issued an order on 26 October, 1992 to the effect that the
matter should be thoroughly investigated before registering
a case under section 498a.
Today every husband is labeled a torturer and the motherin-
law a demon. A fair amount of blame for this rests on the
media which, with a view to sensationalize the ‘story’
blows
the news of ‘harassment’ or ‘torture’ of
married women out
of proportions, without properly investigating the veracity
of the story.The news of alleged ‘torture, harassment, and
misappropriation of stridhan’ of wife by ‘A’ was
published
prominently by a leading city newspaper, accusing several
members of his family torturing her.The concerned reporter
never bothered to verify the allegations with the husband
of ‘A’. As the news carried his full name and those
of his
relatives, designation and the organization where he was
working, it caused irreparable damage to the entire family’s
image and hard-earned reputation in almost every circle
they moved. Queries started pouring in following this news.
Depressed as he was,‘A’ immediately registered his protest
with the editor.The newspaper did publish his rejoinder, but
after a long time gap and without any apology for publishing
an unverified report.
One wonders where this growing tendency of misusing the
useful laws by unscrupulous parties is leading the society.
Harassing and victimizing women for dowry is condemnable.
We all have sisters, and daughters, and undoubtedly they
require legal protection from all forms of harassment and
cruelity but what if the legal loopholes of this very law are
misused by women to harass their husbands and in-laws?
How long will the sufferings of the husband and his
family remain unnoticed and their cries unheard?
“Today every husband is labeled a
torturer and the mother-in-law a
demon”.
“One wonders where this growing
tendency of misusing the laws by
unscrupulous parties is leading the
society“
How many more innocent lives would be lost before
sanity and justice would be restored ?
What do Indian Courts say about IPC-498a ?
Is IPC-498a (dowry law) a balanced law?
Right to life and liberty of every citizen is guaranteed
under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. But this life and
liberty can be curtailed if they hinder others’ life and liberty.
For that due process of law is necessary.While civil law
determines what is right and what is wrong, the criminal law
imposes penalty to deter.
Section 498A was inserted in the Indian Penal Code
in 1984 with a view to protect women against dowry
harassment. From the very beginning of this law there has
been reaction from the society including legal luminaries
that this law could be misused and its effects on the society
would be deleterious.
In their judicial observations and remarks, the courts have
expressed deep anguish over this law. Here are some recent
judicial observations.
Way back in 1990 Punjab and Haryana High court
observed in Jasbir Kaur vs. State of Haryana, (1990)2 Rec
Cri R 243 case as:
“It is known that an estranged wife will go to any extent
to rope in as many relatives of the husband as possible
in a desperate effort to salvage whatever remains of an
estranged marriage.”
In Kanaraj vs. State of Punjab,2000 CriLJ 2993 the
apex court observed as:
“for the fault of the husband the in-laws or other relatives
cannot in all cases be held to be involved.The acts attributed
to such persons have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt
and they cannot be held responsible by mere conjectures
and implications.The tendency to rope in relatives of the
husband as accused has to be curbed”
Karnataka High Court, in the case of State Vs. Srikanth,
2002 CriLJ 3605 observed as:
“Roping in of the whole of the family including brothers
and
sisters-in-law has to be depreciated unless there is a specific
material against these persons, it is down right on the part of
the police to include the whole of the family as accused”
Supreme Court, In Mohd. Hoshan vs. State of A.P. 2002
CriLJ 4124 case, observed as:
“Whether one spouse has been guilt of cruelty to the other
is essentially a question of fact.The impact of complaints,
accusation or taunts on a person amounting to cruelty
depends on various factors like the sensitivity of the
victim concerned, the social background, the environment,
education etc. Further, mental cruelty varies from person to
person depending on the intensity of the sensitivity, degree
of courage and endurance to withstand such cruelty. Each
case has to be decided on its own facts whether mental
cruelty is made out”
Delhi High Court, in Savitri Devi vs. Ramesh Chand, 2003
CriLJ 2759 case observed as:
“These provisions were though made with good intentions
but the implementation has left a very bad taste and the
move has been counter productive.There is a growing
tendency amongst the women which is further perpetuated
by their parents and relatives to rope in each and every
relative including minors and even school going kids nearer
or distant relatives and in some cases against every person
of the family of the husband whether living away or in other
town or abroad and married, unmarried sisters, sisters-in-law,
unmarried brothers, married uncles and in some cases grand
parents or as many as 10 to 15 or even more relatives of the
husband.”
Punjab and Haryana High Court, in Bhupinder Kaur and
others vs. State of Punjab and others, 2003 CriLJ 3394 case
observed as:
“From the reading of the FIR, it is evident that there is
no
specific allegation of any act against petitioners Nos. 2 and
3, which constitute offence under s. 498-A I.P.C. I am satisfied
that these two persons have been falsely implicated in the
present case, who were minors at the time of marriage and
even at the time of lodging the present FIR. Neither of these
two persons was alleged to have been entrusted with any
dowry article nor they alleged to have ever demanded any
dowry article. No specific allegation of demand of dowry,
harassment and beating given to the complainant by the
two accused has been made.The allegations made are vague
and general. Moreover, it cannot be ignored that every
member of the family of the husband has been implicated in
the case.The initiation of criminal proceedings against them
in the present case is clearly an abuse of the process of law”
Jharkhand High Court in Arjun Ram vs. State of
Jharkhand and another, 2004 CriLJ 2989 case observed as:
“In the instant case, it appears that that the criminal
case
has been filed, which is manifestly intended with mala fide
and ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused
and with a view to spite him due to private and personal
grudge. In this connection reliance may be placed upon AIR
1992 SC 604 : (1992CriLJ 527)”
Supreme Court, in a relatively recent case, Sushil Kumar
Sharma vs. Union of India and others, JT 2005(6) 266
observed as:
“The object of the provision is prevention of the dowry
menace. But as has been rightly contented by the petitioner
that many instances have come to light where the
complaints are not bonafide and have been filed with
oblique motive. In such cases acquittal of the accused
does not in all cases wipe out the ignomy suffered during
and prior to trial. Sometimes adverse media coverage
adds to the misery.The question, therefore, is what
remedial measures can be taken to prevent abuse of the
well-intentioned provision. Merely because the provision
is constitutional and intra vires, does not give a licence
to unscrupulous persons to wreck personal vendetta or
unleash harassment. It may, therefore, become necessary
for the legislature to find out ways how the makers of
frivolous complaints or allegations can be appropriately
dealt with.Till then the Courts have to take care of the
situation within the existing frame work. As noted above the
object is to strike at the roots of dowry menace.
But by misuse of the provision a new legal terrorism
can be unleashed. The provision is intended to be used
a shield and not an assassin’s weapon. If cry of “wolf”
is made too often as a prank assistance and protection
may not be available when the actual “wolf” appears.
There is no question of investigating agency and Courts
casually dealing with the allegations.They cannot follow
any straitjacket formula in the matters relating to dowry
tortures, deaths and cruelty. It cannot be lost sight of that
ultimate objective of every legal system is to arrive at truth,
punish the guilty and protect the innocent.There is no
scope for any pre-conceived notion or view. It is strenuously
argued by the petitioner that the investigating agencies
and the courts start with the presumptions that the accused
persons are guilty and that the complainant is speaking the
truth.This is too wide available and generalized statement.
Certain statutory presumptions are drawn which again
are rebuttable. It is to be noted that the role of the
investigating agencies and the courts is that of watch dog
and not of a bloodhound. It should be their effort to see
that an innocent person is not made to suffer on account
of unfounded, baseless and malicious allegations. It is
equally undisputable that in many cases no direct evidence
is available and the courts have to act on circumstantial
evidence.While dealing with such cases, the law laid down
relating to circumstantial evidence has to be kept in view.”
Justice Malimath Committee on Reforms of Criminal
Justice System, Government of India, Ministry of Home
Affairs, 2003 observed the following and gave the
recommendation to amend the law immediately:
“16.4.4 In less tolerant impulsive woman may lodge an FIR
even on a trivial act. The result is that the husband and
his family may be immediately arrested and there may
be a suspension or loss of job. The offence alleged being
non-bailable, innocent persons languish in custody.There
may be a claim for maintenance adding fuel to fire, if the
husband cannot pay. She may change her mind and get into
the mood to forget and forgive.The husband may realize the
mistakes committed and come forward to turn a new leaf
for a loving and cordial relationship.The woman may like
to seek reconciliation. But this may not be possible due to
the legal obstacles. Even if she wishes to make amends by
withdrawing the complaint, she can not do so as the offence
is non compoundable.The doors for returning to family life
stand closed. She is thus left at the mercy of her natal family.
16.4.5 This section, therefore, helps neither the wife nor
the husband.The offence being non-bailable and non-
compoundable makes an innocent person undergo
stigmatization and hardship. Heartless provisions that
make the offence non-bailable and non-compoundable
operate against reconciliations. It is therefore necessary
to make this offence (a) bailable and (b) compoundable to
give a chance to the spouses to come together.
(118) The Code may be suitably amended to make the
offence under Section 498 A of the I.P.Code, bailable and
compoundable.”
These are only a few observations of their lordships from
scores which conclusively prove that:
-
A woman (not necessarily every woman) can be much
more cruel than a man (not necessarily every man).
-
While intending to protect the life of a person, s. 498A of
IPC jeopardizes around a dozen innocent persons whether
they are children or old. Hence, the provision is discriminatory
and in violation to the Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
-
Instead of restoring equilibrium, the provision
aggravates disequilibria. Hence, it is not only imbalanced
but also there is a failure of guarantee of right to life under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
-
For the reasons stated under conclusions 3 and 4 above
the provision is not only imbalanced but also ultravires.
Because of these maladies the provision needs to be
amended at the earliest to protect the life and liberty of
millions of innocent people including children and old.
Prior to that the learned and honorable courts may consider
imposition of heavy penalty as done in case of vexatious PILs.
Such PILs are only vexatious but in the matter of the cases
may be false, malafide, malicious and revengeful.
What about the other side of the 498a reality?
“Am I a coward? My knees have circular scars from being
scrubbed with footpad. I have a sambar burn on my face.
I have two stitches on my thigh.Yet I had to face the
threat of being in jail as an aggressor. People either laugh
or sympathize but nobody says I should get justice only
because I happen to be a male! I care two hoots for laughter,
I do not need sympathy but I want justice.
Will I get it?” Says Bhargav, who not only had to face
domestic violence but also the threat of a false 498a case by
his wife.While such stories of male harassment are becoming
very common, the society still finds it hard to empathize with
a man’s plight. It hardly takes any effort to convince people
if
the same story were narrated by a woman.
Divesh, another harassed husband says,“I do not defy
anyone labeling my narration as ‘my side of the story’…
but my question is why this is not asked when a girl goes to
register a complaint or even during gossips where they are
accompanied by the unlimited stocks of crocodile tears.They
are taken on face value… Is it that females speak only truth?”
It might be hard to imagine the reasons why a woman might
want to harm her husband and his family and ruin her own life
by filing a false 498a case.
Nakul, a victim explains:“Why do some unscrupulous wives
misuse IPC 498a? Firstly to harass the husband, and maybe
for monetary gains…”
It is true that many women are making false accusations of
mental cruelty and harassment on their husbands and in-laws
either of their own accord or at the behest of their family
members.There are many cases where the main issue is
incompatibility between the husband and wife.There are
other cases where the husband discovers that the wife and
her family misrepresented themselves and took advantage of
his trust. In other cases, the domineering influence and greed
of a woman and her family results in marital discord.Whatever
the case may be, the husband and his family are in for a roller-
coaster ride for the next several years if the wife so desires.
“Since there are no legal repercussions if the wife
is found to be fabricating a
false 498a charge, wives use this almost by default even if they
want a divorce for
reasons other than dowry harassment and cruelty on the part of the
husband “
Some people might ask,“How can a lot of wives misuse
the law when it’s a fact that misusing wives will lose cases
anyway?”
Nakul says,“The Indian legal process is a punishment
in
itself, especially when it lingers on aimlessly for 5-10
years after the harsh period of police investigations
(institutionalized blackmail to be frank). Since there are
no legal repercussions if the wife is found to be fabricating
a false 498a charge, wives use this almost by default
even if they want a divorce for reasons other than dowry
harassment and cruelty on the part of the husband. Even if
they (complainants) lose the case, there’s nothing for them
to actually lose, as the wife gets a lawyer from the state
(public prosecutor), she doesn’t have to appear other than
for
her statements during the trial ( 2-3 court sessions as opposed
to
the innumerable sessions which the accused husband and family
have to attend throughout the duration of the case). This
no-lose
situation is what makes the law-misusing wife confident
of inflicting damages to her husband without any harm to
her whatsoever.”
Nakul also points out that “in this particular criminal
section of 498a,
the accused is considered guilty right from the start until proven
innocent (i.e. the onus of proof is on the accused), while in all
other
criminal cases (including murder) the accused is considered innocent
until proven guilty.”
There are many heart-wrenching stories of innocent families
being arrested without investigation and put in judicial
custody.While IPC 498a is supposed to be a law to protect
women, ironically it harms many more women. For every
male accused of IPC 498a, there is at least one woman (his
mother or sister) who is implicated in a crime that never
occurred. If there are more women in the family they too are
accused irrespective of their age, health condition, marital
status or their physical proximity to the complainant.The
entire family is ruthlessly arrested without investigation
and there are no words to describe the financial hardship
and emotional trauma that they have to endure. Children
suffer whether they are jailed along with their mothers or
are separated from them during that time. If this is not
harassment, then what is?
Every innocent person facing a threat or charged with a
crime under section 498a is extremely angry (and justifiably
so) at how the Indian police and judicial systems operate
in these cases. Shishir, a victim, says.“How would
you feel
when somebody accuses you of a crime you have never
committed, the law asks you to prove your innocence
and the police punish you even before you are
convicted?”
Another striking feature of these victim stories is that the
complainants, in collaboration with the police make sure
that the arrests are strategically planned to harass and
demoralize the accused, to make them succumb to the
fear of being imprisoned and to extract huge amounts of
money thereafter. Shivani, a US citizen who had gone to India
to attend her mother-in-law’s funeral, was arrested under
section 498a (filed by her sister-in-law), during a time when
lawyers were on strike in Chennai. Shivani had to spend
seven gruesome days in prison away from her two little
children (one of whom was sick). Another female victim,
Usha, who had traveled to India to see her dying father,
was arrested along with her brother while their father
was still in hospital. They lost their father while they
were in police custody.
Divesh notes that “most of the arrests that have been
purposely made are on Friday evening .The reason is that the
next two days being weekend off ensures that the husbands
and his parents and relatives spend at least that many
days in jail till the court opens on Monday. And if that day
happens to be a government holiday then the proceedings
are in suspension for a further while.The other popular days
are days before holidays especially if the holiday is on Friday,
then Thursday is apt for arrest as the proceedings are halted
for three days minimum and the husbands and his innocent family
members are in jail. I would rate these cases from past
trends as more than 90%.”
“Once a family has been tortured using the 498a weapon,
the chances
of reconciliation between the husband and wife are nil”
What are the social consequences of misuse of 498a?
Once a family has been tortured using the 498a weapon, the
chances of reconciliation between the husband and wife is
nil.The divorce that ensues is another mode of harassment
for the already impoverished husband because he is forced
to pay a hefty alimony/maintenance demanded by his wife.
As Mihir notes,“An interesting ruling of the Allahabad High
Court, where the wife was made to pay maintenance to her
husband after divorce seemed to be a light of hope for those
aggrieved and deprived husbands. But all the women had
voted against this ruling criticizing the judgment as biased.”
Shishir asks,“Why are they calling it as biased? Do they
despise providing any kind of financial support to their
husband? Or do they feel that providing financial support
is only a man’s domain and responsibility and not that of
women? It is evident from the momentum of these women’s
rights campaigns that they not only want to assert their own
‘rights’ in the society but also they want to dictate
men’s
‘duties’.” Many feel that this kind of attitude
on the part of
women defeats any attempts of achieving gender equality.
Voicing the agony of all victimized men, Nakul says,“We
are
trying to see courts as our ‘parks’ and litigation as
‘small talk’,
so that we ourselves do not fall into the self-destructive
vortex as the wasteful trials and adjournments and other
self-defeating legal processes stretch out, without any sign
of closure while life is kept in abeyance (can’t restart a
family,
can’t relocate easily, can’t be free from time spent,
etc.)”
Sharat, another victim states,“According to an estimate,
there are around 50,000-55,000 false 498a cases filed every
year in India.This creates multi-dimensional problems to the
families and society:
-
Lot of productive time, energy and money of the family are
spent in proving themselves innocent.
-
Law implementers and judiciary have to spend countless
number of hours presiding over a ‘civil’ matter (false
in more
than 90% cases) while the judiciary is already overburdened
and has a severe backlog of millions of civil and criminal
cases.
-
Tax-payer money is spent on the government lawyer
appointed to the daughter-in-law and letting her fight her
vicious lie.
-
Families who have never spent a single minute with
lawyers, courts and police, are forced to run frantically
from pillar to post to defend an alleged crime they never
committed and they are bound to get depressed with the
judiciary and police system.
-
Eventually, the institution of marriage might become more
like a business transaction in which a man and wife will have
to document every agreement in writing in front of lawyers.”
When victims and activists protest against misuse of
498a and other dowry-related laws, they face large-scale
denunciation by groups claiming to be women’s rights activists.
But is their criticism justified? As one female victim
questions,“Why do we need unfair laws which will ‘benefit’
a woman if she is a daughter-in-law or wife but harm her if
she is a sister-in-law or mother-in-law? When it is natural for
a woman to simultaneously play all these roles how can a
heavily misused law such as IPC 498a be beneficial to women
in its current form?”
Shishir notes,“ 498a law, which was enacted to protect
women from any unlawful dowry or related harassment,
is now become a multi-million racket in our society.
The woman who files a false case, the lawyer who guides
the woman on how to file a false case and the police who
make the arrest, all seek unjust monetary gains from the
situation. Why do we have to keep quiet when it is our
right to fight against injustice? Such draconian laws are
not yet criticized by many women’s organizations which
are campaigning for women’s rights and protection.The
Government too has not provided any remedial measures
to curb such a malicious practice, which was termed “Legal
Terrorism” by Supreme Court of India.
The appeals and suggestions of 498a victims to amend
section 498a have been grossly misunderstood and
misrepresented by some women’s organizations (lobbying
for strengthening 498a and other dowry related laws) as
anti-women strategies. In response, here is what victims who
seek nothing but justice and freedom from these unfair laws
and long-drawn criminal procedures have to say:
“I do not want 498a to be eradicated. All I want is that
the
husband and his family are not arrested without proper
investigation. In addition, if the law is misused then the wife
and her family should be booked and sent to jail.” - Rahul
“Do not change 498a. But argue for heavy punishment
to women who file false cases and for lie detection and
brain-mapping test on the accused (cost being paid by
accused). Simple is it not?” - Anamika
Divesh, who has been enduring harassment from his wife
and in-laws for two years cries,“Arey kanoon banane wale,
aap ke ghar mein baap, bhai ya bete hai ke nahi? (Makers of
such laws, don’t you have fathers, brothers or sons in your
homes?)”.
Lawmakers, are you listening?
498a Statistics
Perhaps nothing else reveals the extent of the misuse of the
section 498A, than the statistics themselves. The statistics
compiled from various sources reveal some shocking
patterns. The degree of the abuse of this legal tool at the
disposal of unscrupulous women is clearly borne out by
analyzing the data available.
The details of the cases filed under section 498A in the year
2005, are as under
(Source : Ministry of Home Affairs, RTI ref. no. 24013 /20/2006-SC/ST-W)
| No. of dowry cases registered |
58319 |
| No. of dowry cases not charge-sheeted because of frivolous
grounds |
10491 |
| No. of dowry cases charge-sheeted |
47828 |
| Convicted |
5739 |
| Acquitted |
24127 |
| No. of undecided cases |
17962 |
In year 2005 alone, 134757 people underwent arrest for
58319 complaints under 498A and Dowry Prohibition Act.
(Source : Ministry of Home Affairs, RTI ref. no. 24013 /20/2006-SC/ST-W)
| Below 18 years |
358 |
0.2% |
| Between 18-60 years |
129655 |
96% |
| Above 60 years |
4744 |
3.5% |
Out of 134,757 accused, approximately 18% were not
chargesheeted, which means 24,256 arrests of innocent
people were caused only because these acts are non-bailable
and cognizable, which forced the police to arrest the accuse,
even though the complaints were frivolous.
On an average 2.3 people were arrested in every complaint
by a woman. It is appalling to note that 358 children and
4744 senior citizens were arrested without verification of the
veracity of the complaint.
The World Health Organization reports Lebanon and
India as first ranking countries for legal abuse of elders
in its report and explicitly mentions the dowry law as
a tool for rampant abuse of elders in India .
(Document no.WHO/NMH/VIP/02.1,WHO/NMH/NPH/02.2
Title Missing Voices. http://
www.498a.org/legalTorture.htm)
Extract from WHO report
D) Legal and financial abuse
“Legal abuse was named as a particular type of abuse
in both India
and Lebanon, although each country has its own specific version
of
this. The Indian expression of legal abuse is through abuse of the
dowry laws by daughters-in-law:”
“In India, there is a law that is intended to protect daughters-in-law
from abusive in-laws. A daughter-in-law can go to the police station
and lay a complaint that she is being abused by her in-laws, and
the
in-laws are arrested on her word alone. However, the focus group
participants reported that some daughters-in-law are using this
law
as a form of elder abuse, by making false police reports. In general,
participants stressed that the lack of a caring attitude by daughters-
in-law was a major problem. (India)”.
Not only senior citizens, even women and children are
abused using this legal process. It is ironic that more than
25,000 innocent women get arrested under section 498A,
which has been projected as a law for welfare of women.
The data for the arrests made under section 498A and its
analysis is given below (Source : National Crime Records Bureau)
| |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
| Persons Arrested |
110623 |
125657 |
127560 |
| Women Arrested |
26465 |
27832 |
28745 |
| Seniors Arrested |
3786 |
4324 |
4512 |
| Children Arrested |
297 |
294 |
339 |
| Persons Chargesheeted |
106980 |
118367 |
121653 |
| Persons who completed trial |
70167 |
71192 |
74496 |
| Persons Convicted |
12558 |
14706 |
14583 |
| Acquittal Rate (for people who completed trial) |
82% |
79% |
80% |
| Innocent Persons Arrested daily |
249 |
273 |
281 |
| Innocent Women Arrested daily |
60 |
61 |
63 |
| Innocent Seniors Arrested daily |
9 |
9 |
10 |
| Innocent Children Arrested daily |
1 |
1 |
1 |
The analysis above reveals some startling facts. Under a false
case of section 498A -
An INNOCENT child is arrested every day.
An INNOCENT senior citizen is arrested every 2.4 hours.
An INNOCENT woman is arrested every 23 minutes.
An INNOCENT person is arrested every 5 minutes.
These statistics clearly demonstrate the legal and systematic
abuse of husbands and their families by vicious and cruel
misuse of this law against them. The abuse by wife is often
in collusion with her relatives.The laws have grave impact on
the life of man and his family, in the event of false allegations,
which are acted upon even before considering the genuiness
of the complaint.
In India, men do not have legal recourse in the event of
abuse.The legal system only adds another dimension of
“legal torture” to these families, by making them helpless
in
the event of abuse. If a family decides to fight back against
these false allegations, then besides facing an imminent
arrest, they also face tremendous legal hurdles in proving
their innocence.
The following data proves that the average length of trial for
cases under section 498A is increasing and because more
498A cases are being filed every year than the courts are able
to adjudicate. (Source : National Crime Records Bureau)
| |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
| Persons under trial (including past years) |
500166 |
537137 |
573881 |
| Persons for whom cases were withdrawn |
11229 |
13717 |
13447 |
| Persons who completed trials |
70167 |
71192 |
74496 |
| Persons pending trial |
418770 |
452228 |
485938 |
| Average Length of Trial |
7.1 years |
7.5 years |
7.7 years |
In a typical illustration of “Justice Delayed is Justice
Denied”,
the lengthy trial forces many innocent families to give in to
extortion and blackmail and “compromise” by giving huge
amounts of money. The feeble recourses of “Restitution of
Conjugal Rights” or “Divorce” make men even more
miserable
in an actual domestic tiff. In such situation having left no
legal recourse to get out of abusive relationships, some
innocent men and their families end up taking their own
lives.
Men usually commit suicide due to humiliation suffered
in the initial stages of dowry complaint as the complaint
(true or false) usually means few days of arrest (which, in
many cases, results in automatic loss of job, especially Govt.
jobs), humiliation in society and anguish for causing arrest
to elders and youngsters of husband’s family, which usually
means loss of life for elders and loss of dignified career for
the implicated children.
Due to stringency of dowry laws, 53 men committed
suicide in year 2004 . (Source : Ministry of Home Affairs, RTI ref.
no. 24013/20/2006-SC/ST-W). One man commits suicide every
week due to this law.
The ratio of Male : Female victims of suicide in India
is 63 : 37 and nearly 44.7% of the suicide victims were
married males while only 25% were married females.
(Source: National Crime Records Bureau)
A study by Professor K. Nagaraj, senior economist at the
Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) shows that
the distribution of suicides by marital status reveals some
shocking patterns.The rates do not vary much between the
sexes for the never married. Among those currently married,
while the rate for males is about 17 per 100,000 persons, the
rate for females is 11.4 per 100,000. Among those widowed,
while the rate for males is 21 per 100,000 persons, the rate
for females is also significantly lower, at 6.6 per 100,000.
However, among divorced males the suicide rate is 164
per 100,000 persons, but even in this class, among females
the rate is only 63 per 100,000.While the suicide rate for
separated men is about 167, for females it is 41 per 100,000
persons.
Gender biased laws that discriminate against men, create
more injustice in the society. An example is the Domestic
Violence Act, which allows only a woman to file a complaint
against a man. It is the all the more unjust, given the fact that
42% of the victims that commit suicides in marital disputes
are men. (Source : Ministry of Home Affairs)
No. of suicides due to marital dispute in year 2004
Deaths due Domestic Violence
| male |
321 |
42% |
| female |
441 |
58% |
The misuse of this law is increasing the load on an already
overburdened judiciary. Consider the following data for bail
applications in various courts in New Delhi on a random day
and a week after.
Bail Applications in Delhi Courts on 13th Feb, 2007 (Source :
www.delhidistrictcourts.nic.in)
| Court |
498A related bail applications |
Total bail applications |
% of bail applications related to 498A |
| Tiz Hazari |
43 |
82 |
52% |
| Rohini |
21 |
70 |
30% |
| Patiala |
4 |
11 |
36% |
| Kakkardooma |
8 |
31 |
26% |
| Total |
76 |
194 |
39% |
Bail Applications in Delhi Courts on 20th Feb, 2007
(Source : www.delhidistrictcourts.nic.in)
| Court |
498A related bail applications |
Total bail applications |
% of bail applications related to 498A |
| Tiz Hazari |
18 |
51 |
35% |
| Rohini |
11 |
63 |
17% |
| Patiala |
7 |
33 |
21% |
| Kakkardooma |
28 |
55 |
51% |
| Total |
64 |
202 |
32% |
As can be observed, more than 30% of the bail
applications in the New Delhi courts are related to 498A
cases. Given that about 80% of the cases that complete
trial are found to be without merit, eliminating the false
498A cases will reduce the load on the New Delhi courts
by about 25%, as far as the number of bail applications
are
concerned. This would allow the courts to devote more time
for addressing the genuine grievances of citizens.
Lastly, one must question the efficacy of such draconian laws
in terms of the achievement of the objective for which they
were originally enacted.The intention behind section 498A
was to curb the social evil of dowry. However, analyzing
the number of cases registered in the past 10 years clearly
exposes the failure of this law. (Source : National Crime Records
Bureau)
| Year |
People Arrested |
% increase over 1995 |
| 1995 |
28579 |
|
| 1996 |
35246 |
23% |
| 1997 |
36592 |
28% |
| 1998 |
41375 |
45% |
| 1999 |
43823 |
53% |
| 2000 |
45778 |
60% |
| 2001 |
49170 |
72% |
| 2002 |
49237 |
72% |
| 2003 |
50703 |
77% |
| 2004 |
58121 |
103% |
| 2005 |
58319 |
104% |
No. of Cases (in thousands) registered under section 498A
As can be observed, the number of cases have doubled in
the last 10 years. Since about 80% of the cases that complete
trial are found to be without merit, it shows the increasing
tendency of urban women to misuse the laws for their own
oblique purposes.
It is also interesting to note that the number of people
arrested under section 498A has steadily increased over the
years.
No. of Persons (in thousands) arrested under section 498A
It is evident from the data presented above that section 498A
has miserably failed in its goal to protect genuine victims
of dowry abuse. It has, instead, turned into a weapon which
is used extensively to harass innocent families and is solely
responsible for the breakup of many marriages and for the
suicides of numerous hapless victims caught in the net of
this law.
Laws like IPC Section 498A and Domestic Violence Act have
number of provisions to intimidate men and their families
The effect of these laws is unjustified power in the hands of
women for blackmail and extortion in domestic disputes,
which irreparably damages the life of husbands and their
relatives and sometimes also becomes the reason for their
death.
The nature of Indian society has changed drastically over
the past few years. The existing social conditions demand
that Husband and his family be protected from his wife
and her relatives, as well. It is now imperative that legal
protection be provided to all citizens, irrespective of gender.
The laws must be suitably amended in the interest of our
future generations and women themselves. Unjustified
attempts to discriminate against men will only cause
destruction of the delicate family system, as has been amply
demonstrated in the western nations.
(http://www.scotland.gov.
uk/Publications/2005/07/28102739/27419)
Typical Traits of Complainant and Accused
Note: The following are scenarios in which false IPC 498A
(498a) cases have been documented over the last few years.
Therefore, if a husband or his family observes any or a
combination of the following behaviors, he might want to
watch out for a possible 498a case against him.
Typical Complainant is a woman:
-
Who is suffering from pre-existing mental problems
such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar
Disorder, Schizophrenia, etc.,
-
Whose family is nouveau riche and likes ostentatious
display of wealth, possessions as well as social and
political connections
-
Who is used to living beyond her means
-
Whose father is hen-pecked and whose mother
dominates all family situations
-
Who listens to and acts in accordance with her
parents’ wishes at all times, exhibiting a lack of
individuality and discretion in dealing with her
married life
-
Who pushes for quick involvement during the
establishment of a marriage alliance, pressing
the man and his family for an instantaneous
commitment
-
Who is excessively possessive and suspicious
-
Who is self-centered and feels the need to dominate
the relationship and every aspect of decision-
making
-
Who tries to alienate her husband from his family
and friends
-
Who is hypersensitive and therefore easily insulted
-
Who indulges in verbal abuse and constant criticism
of her husband and in-laws
-
Who uses blackmail (emotional or otherwise) and
threats to get her unreasonable demands fulfilled by
her husband and in-laws
-
Who walks out on her husband following an
argument and stays away from her husband
indefinitely without any effort towards reconciliation
Typical Accused is man and his family:
-
Who are generally law-abiding citizens with no
connection or experience with police and courts
-
Who are busy professionals or Non-Resident Indians
and do not have the time and ability to fight long-
drawn cases in Indian courts and therefore stand out
as soft targets for blackmails and threats
-
Who are living in a joint family and do not yield to
wife's demand to setup a nuclear family
-
Who are individualistic and refuse to submit to the
controlling nature of the wife and in-laws
-
Who are wealthy and have a lot to lose under threat
of arrest and extortion
-
Who serve the Indian Government, and whose
employment would be at stake if they were arrested
or imprisoned
-
Who are unwilling or unable to meet the monetary
demands of the wife and her family
Thought provoking questions about 498a
Registration of FIR, arrest and court proceedings:
-
When an FIR under IPC section 498A (498a) is
registered, the accused are automatically arrested
and jailed without investigation. The Supreme Court
of India has ruled several times that arrest should be
an exception, and not a compulsory. Why is there no
penalty for disobeying the Supreme Court’s orders?
Is it not mental cruelty to subject a person to arrest
without investigation or reasonable cause?
-
Why is there no provision in the criminal law that can
serve to deter false and exaggerated claims?
-
Why does not the judicial system use its power to
deter frivolous complaints made by unscrupulous
individuals and prosecutions by corrupt law and order
personnel for wasting the honorable courts’ precious
time and imposing the financial burden on the public
exchequer?
-
Why is there no provision by which the costs relating
to false 498a cases can be recorded and recovered
from the complainants to compensate the falsely
accused?
-
Why is there no penalty for the complainant who does
not appear to the court proceedings?
Equality of laws:
-
According to established research, the frequency of
husbands committing suicide is three times that of
wives committing suicide. When a wife commits
suicide it is automatically deemed to be dowry death,
under IPC section 304B. Why do we have no such
protection for husbands?
[ref: http://www.flonnet.
com/fl1821/18210960.htm]
-
The existing laws protect a woman from cruelty and
harassment by her husband and in-laws. Why does
the law not provide protection to a man against
cruelty and harassment by his wife and in-laws?
-
The Dowry Prohibition Act clearly states that the dowry
giver is also punishable under the said Act. Why do
the police and judicial authorities not take any action
against those who admit that they gave dowry?
-
Dowry laws were made to protect women from
harassment. What legal protection is available to a
woman who is being harassed by a daughter-in-law
or sister-in-law? What legal remedies are available to
a woman whose daughter-in-law or sister-in-law has
booked a false dowry case against her?
Gender Biased Laws Engender injustice
IPC section 498a was originally designed to protect married
women from being harassed or subjected to cruelty by husbands
and/or their relatives.This law was mainly aimed at curbing dowry
harassment. Unfortunately, this law has been misused to harass
men and their families rather than protect genuine female victims
of harassment.The Supreme Court of India itself has labeled the
misuse of section 498a as “legal terrorism” and stated
that “many
instances have come to light where the complaints are not bona
fide and have been filed with an oblique motive. In such cases,
acquittal of the accused does not wipe out the ignominy suffered
during and prior to the trial. Sometimes adverse media coverage
adds to the misery.“ In agreement with the above statement,
the
findings of a study conducted by The Center for Social Research
indicated that 98 percent of the cases filed under IPC section
498a are false. Nevertheless, the law has been always justified
based on its intention of protecting women. At this point it would
be worthwhile to think about how IPC section 498a has really
affected women.
It has been argued by Government officials favoring the law
that despite the establishment of legal measures to counter
harassment of married women, there is an increase in the number
of cases of harassment.The first part of the statement suggests
that women who are harassed should be utilizing this law as a
means of protection. If harassed women indeed used the law then
we should see a decrease in the number of cases of harassment
over time. Considering the stringent consequences imposed by
the law and the inordinate delays inherent in the legal system,
no
ordinary citizen, male or female, would be impudent enough to
risk being implicated under this law for the sake of satisfying
their
monetary or even sadistic desires for that matter.
The fact is that many women who are actually beaten up and
harassed by their husbands and in-laws rarely file 498a or resort
to
other dowry related laws. A lot of them live in rural areas, unaware
of the law or lack the necessary economic and moral support from
their natal families. Going by the conviction rate the proportion
of
women who have genuine cases is 2%. Most women who file 498a
are from urban backgrounds and are either capable of fending
for themselves or have enough family support to fall back on.The
proportion of women who belong to this category is 98%. In the
98% of false cases, in every instance that 1 daughter-in-law files
a false complaint at least women (an innocent mother-in-law
and sister-in-law) are arrested and undergo stress, humiliation
and
harassment in the hands of the exploitative police, lawyers, staff
and officials in Indian courts before being acquitted several years
later. So, in every 100 cases 2 women genuinely benefit, 98 women
get away with perjury and extortion, and at least 196 women suffer
needlessly.
The number of cases that are filed in police stations or courts
are
the basis for the official statistics of dowry harassment. So, given
that the law allows women unlimited scope to fabricate lies (with
no penalty of perjury) and given that women are encouraged
to keep filing false cases the statistics of “dowry harassment”
are
bound to rise while the problem of genuine harassment is left
unchecked. So, the government has, in the name of protection
of women, done grave injustice to two groups of women.The
first group constitutes the genuine victims of dowry harassment
whose misery remains unmitigated but is constantly alluded to
in order to justify the law.The second group consists of innocent
mothers and sisters of husbands who are criminalized and
harassed by the police and the legal system without any regard
to their age, health or marital status. Pregnant women, unmarried
sisters, ailing mothers and even aged grandmothers have been
sent behind the bars under false allegations but their pain and
suffering has not even been acknowledged leave alone addressed
by the Government.Through IPC section 498a, the Government
is actually protecting those women that indulge in perjury,
blackmail, extortion and harassment of their husbands and in-
laws.
The recently passed Domestic Violence Bill claims that it will
protect women from domestic violence which includes physical,
verbal, emotional, sexual and economical abuse. According to the
law an aggrieved person is defined as “any woman who is, or
has
been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent…”
and a
respondent is defined as “an adult male person who is, or
has been,
in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person…”.Thus,
the
law only recognizes domestic violence committed by a man on a
woman in a household shared in the past or present.While this
law is heavily biased against men, many supporters of the law are
claiming that this law is good for women.The following are some
gross inconsistencies in the law that prove that the DV Act is not
good for women either.
There are several instances where a daughter-in-law and/or
her blood relatives commit domestic violence (as defined by
the law) against her mother-in-law, sister-in-law or any other
females related by marriage. In addition, mothers or step-mothers
abuse their children (who include daughters or step-daughters)
physically, verbally, emotionally and economically and vice versa.
In
such a situation, the law does not provide any protection to female
victims of Domestic Violence.Thus, the law can only be used by a
wife or a girlfriend (present or former) and their relatives/friends
against a man and his family.
According to Clause 17 of the Act legally divorced women and
former separated girlfriends/live-in partners can claim right to
residence in the home of their former husband or former partner
even though the Act says they may not have any right, title or
beneficial interest in the same.The law can thus force a former
wife or former girlfriend on a man’s household and violate
the
rights of his present wife or partner.The law does not provide
protection to a man’s current wife or girlfriend/live-in partner
or
even dependent mothers and sisters under such circumstances.
Here, the law favors divorced women and former girlfriends at
the cost of the rights of a legally wedded wife/live-in partner
and
other female relatives that share a household with a man.
According to clause 19 a man can be removed from his own
household and him and his relatives can be restrained from
entering any portion of the household in which the aggrieved
person resides.Through this clause the law supports the
encroachment of property by a girlfriend (former or present) at
the
expense of the right to residence of a man, his legally wedded wife
and any other dependent female members of a family. In the name
of protecting a section of women who may be making true or false
allegations, the law penalizes innocent women who are related to
an accused man.
Despite documented evidence that section 498a of IPC has been
heavily misused affecting more and more women (along with
men) everyday, no amendments to this law have been proposed
so far. As with section 498a of IPC, the Domestic Violence Act is
replete with loopholes and is bound to be misused.The DV Act
will allow legally wedded women, divorced women and girlfriends
(former or present) to subject a man and his relatives (male and
female) to domestic violence and legal harassment. This Act, like
Section 498a of IPC will result in the harassment of many more
innocent women than it claims it will protect. It is important for
the Government to acknowledge the fact that IPC 498a and DV Act
are bad laws that criminalize ordinary citizens (male and female)
and violate their fundamental rights. Unless urgent amendments
are made to prevent the misuse of these laws, credibility of women
will be lost. In addition to lost credibility, an overload of false
cases
will worsen the delays in the judicial process and deny timely
justice to women who are genuinely aggrieved.
Unreasonable and easily misused laws like IPC 498a and DV Act
are already creating a situation of fear and mutual distrust and
adversely affecting interpersonal relationships between men
and women in the society.This is resulting in more and more
broken families and depriving children of a healthy childhood.
If the Government and women’s organizations were truly
interested in improving the living conditions of women in India
they would focus on empowering women through education.
Education builds self-confidence and gives a person the ability
to
stand up for oneself. Educating women can also ensure that the
next generation of children are raised to treat each other with
respect and be better citizens.The Government and women’s
organizations can also lend support for rehabilitation of abused
women and protect them from further harassment without doing
injustice to innocent men. It would behoove the Government
and women’s organizations to work in collaboration with social
scientists and psychologists to understand human behavior in the
context of changing social conditions and standards in India and
think about workable solutions to deal with Domestic Violence
and other forms of abuse instead of criminalizing ordinary citizens.
Positive measures that can bring about domestic harmony are the
only way to ensure family stability and long-term social stability.
Steps And Suggestions to Government
1. Role of Women NGOs:
These organizations should investigate complaint properly without
any bias
towards the woman keeping in mind that the law is being misused
largely to
harass more women in husband’s family.They should not encourage
any woman
to file a criminal case against her in-laws for trivial matters.
Foreign Women Organizations should also take responsibility of
not allowing
false complaint to be registered against NRI’s just to harass
and extort huge
amount of money from them. These organizations should also conduct
survey/research on the misuse of the act and should educate people
about
its consequences.
If these organizations are found to be assisting in filing false
complaints,
then they should be made liable for prosecution in the country where
they are functioning.
2. Family Counseling Centers:
Numerous cases of men being harassed
by wife or/and in-laws have come to
light from different parts of the country.
As of now there is no organization,
which can really help these harassed
men and his family members, to
listen their side of the story and put
their point of view in front of the
government. Need of the hour is to create family counseling
centers across the country to help those aggrieved families.
3. Time bound Investigation and Trial :
A speedy trial of 498(a) cases will not only ensure justice for
the innocents
that have been implicated in false charges, it will also lead
to prompt redressal of the grievances of real dowry victims.
The reduction in false cases will also reduce the burden on
judiciary and expedite the processing of real cases.
“Honourable Supreme Court of India has asked the government
to amend IPC-498a to plug the many loopholes it has”.
It’s high time government acts on these suggestions.
4. Definition of Mental Cruelty:
Mental cruelty has been vaguely defined in the act, which leaves
scope of misuse.
This should be clearly elaborated to remove loopholes in the law.There
should be
provision for men also to file a case for mental cruelty by his
wife.
5. Investigation by Civil authorities:
The investigation into these offences be carried out by civil
authorities and only after
his/her finding as to the commission of the offence, cognizance
should be taken.The
government should create awareness among officers about its misuse.
6. Bailable:
The main reason of 498a
being misused to harass innocent is
its non-bailable nature.This section
should be made bailable to prevent
innocent old parents, pregnant
sisters, and school going children
from languishing in custody for
weeks without any fault of them.
7. Compoundable:
Once FIR has been registered it becomes
impossible to withdraw the case
even if wife realizes that she has
done a blunder and wants to come
back to her matrimonial home.To
save institution of marriage this
should be made compoundable.
Moreover, in the scenario where the couple decides to end
the marriage by mutual divorce, continuation of criminal
proceedings hamper their life.
8. Arrest Warrants:
Arrest warrant should be issued only
against the main accused and only after cognizance has
been taken. Husband family members should not be arrested.
9. Penalty for making false accusation:
Whenever any court comes to the conclusion that the allegations
made
regarding commission of offence under section 498a IPC are
unfound, stringent action should be taken against persons
making the allegations.This would discourage persons from
coming to courts with unclean hands and ulterior motives.
Criminal charges should be brought against all authorities
that are collaborating with falsely accusing women and their
parental families.
10. Court Proceedings:
Physical appearance of the accused
on hearing should be waved or kept low to avoid hassles in
appearing to the court, especially for NRIs.The court should
not ask to surrender passport of the husband and his family
which could cost job of the husband and his family members.
11. Registration of Marriage and Gifts Exchanged :
The registration of marriages should be made compulsory
along with the requirement that the couple make a joint
declaration regarding the gifts exchanged during marriage.
12. Punish Dowry Givers :
If the complainant admits giving dowry in the complaint,
the courts should take cognizance of the same and initiate
proceedings against them under the relevant sections of the Dowry
Prohibition Act.
13. Penalize corrupt Investigation Officers :
If it is apparent to the court that a fair investigation has not
been
conducted by the investigation officer, and that the husband
and his family have been charge-sheeted without proper
verification of the complaint, the investigation officer should
be penalized for gross negligence of duty.
14. NRI Issues :
Unless they are proven to be guilty after the
due judicial process, NRIs should be a given a fair chance to
justice by assuring them of the following -
-
Permission to return to country of employment
-
No impoundment/revocation of passport and no Interpol Red Corner
Notices.
-
No unnecessary arrests
-
Expeditious investigation and trial.
15.Gender Neutral :
Everyone should have equal rights and
responsibilities, irrespective of gender. In the current social
context, there should be similar laws to protect harassed
husband and his family members from unscrupulous wife.
Media Reports
“If there is a marital discord, man is considered the culprit.
Everybody sympathizes with the woman. The law was made
stringent to protect women but instead it has become a tool
of blackmail” .
“90 percent of dowry harassment complaints are false.”
-
Arun Murthy, Founder of Sangyabalya quoted in
“498a gives men pre-wedding jitters”. Vijay Times.
Bangalore. Thursday 07 April, 2005.
“Today, most women end up
using the anti-dowry law to book
husbands for maltreatment even
if dowry is not the cause of marital
breakdown.Thus anti-dowry law has
not curbed the giving and taking of
dowry. It has only provided a strong
weapon for revenge in the hands of
wives against their husbands and
in-laws, whether or not their conflict
is over dowry. Lawyers and even
police routinely advise families to
list ‘dowry demands’ as the primary
cause of marital violence, even if in
actual fact this is not at all the case,
or is only a relatively minor factor in
marital conflict”
-
Madhu Purnima Kishwar.
Manushi, Issue 148.
(Published July 2005 in
India Together)
“For women there are many laws to deal with such problems
and many bodies like the Women’s Commission and the
women’s grievance cell, while there is no facility for men
who
face problems from their wives”
-
Aruna Mukherjee. Pirito Purush Poti Parishad
(Forum of oppressed husbands).“Battered
husbands join hands to take on ‘better’ halves.”
Express India. Thursday, June 16, 2005.
“Matrimonial offences where a woman is not physically
assaulted should be compoundable and bailable.”
“There is a growing tendency among women, which is
further perpetuated by their parents and relatives, to rope
in each and every relative, including minors and even school
going children of distant relatives”
-
Justice J D Kapoor, Delhi high court.“Check dowry
law misuse by women: HC.”Times News Network,
Thursday, May 22, 2003.
“Anti-dowry law has not curbed the “giving and
taking of dowry. It has only provided a strong weapon for revenge
in the hands of wives against their husbands and in-laws, whether
or not their conflict is over dowry” - Madhu Purnima Kishwar.
‘‘It is unfortunate that more and
more people are misusing the
stringent provisions of the law out
of sheer spite,’’ says Ajaib Singh,
head of the Women and Child
Support Unit.
‘‘People generally make use this
law to facilitate a divorce. And
often, it’s the lawyers who advise
the women to implicate their
in-laws under the provisions of
this Act,’’ says Shantosh Singh,
chairperson of Women Welfare
Counseling Cell at Sector 17.
Lawyers also admit that the
stringent laws against the dowry
are misused to a great extent,”
There are only 10 per cent cases
based on truth, and people
usually come to us and ask specifically to mention the
element of dowry in their divorce petitions,” says Amrikh
Singh Kalra, advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court.
‘‘Most of the cases are fabricated and the element
of dowry
is exaggerated in them. Basically women want to have a
quick solution to their problems and the laws against dowry
provide the easiest way out,’’ says advocate Amarjit
Singh
Jattana.
There are many who feel that legal luminaries should find
out ways to prevent the misuse of this Act.‘‘With so
many
people filing cases under this Act, there may come a time
when we begin to suspect even a genuine case,’’ says
Ajaib
Singh.
The chairperson of state woman commission (Orissa) says
cases of husbands being tortured and harassed are on the
rise, especially in urban areas of the state. Over the last five
years 519 cases of torture against husbands have been
registered.
“It’s high time that there should be forums where
these
victimized husbands can seek justice and law should also be
made to deal specifically such situation,” says lawyer and
Lok
Sabha MP, Brahmananda Panda.
-
Jajati Karan. CNN-IBN news.“Victimized husbands
an ugly reality”. Thursday, February 16, 2006.
In several complaints, the husband states that the wife has
threatened by saying that all laws are in their favor and
they can do anything. Pandey says in most of the cases the
husband blames his in-laws accusing the wife of acting at
their behest.They complain that the in-laws want to interfere
in their life.They want the husband to listen and follow their
advice, she added.
Counselors at the Maharashtra Commission for Women,
setup to help women harassed by men, are having a tough
time these days. Besides women, they have men queuing up
with complaints against their partners, wives, girlfriends and
even mothers-in-law. And of the complaints filed by women,
many are turning out to be false.
“In quite a few cases, women are filing complaints which
are
not only motivated but quite misleading — just to harass
men deliberately,” said the MCW Member Secretary Sudha
Bhave.
-
Aditya Ghosh.“Men seek help. Is women’s panel
listening?” DNA Mumbai, Monday, February 13,
2006.
The Supreme Court today warned that misuse of anti-dowry
laws could unleash a “new legal terrorism”. A division
bench
of Justices Arijit Pasayat and H.K. Sema said provisions in the
laws are often being misused to settle personal scores.
“that does not give a license to unscrupulous persons to
wreck personal vendetta or unleash harassment,” the bench
said.
The judges said “it may become necessary for the legislature”
to find “appropriate” ways to deal with people behind
“frivolous complaints or allegations”, as the laws do
not give
any directions in this regard.
“The object of the provision is prevention of the dowry
menace. But many instances have come to light where the
complaints are not bonafide and have been filed with an
oblique motive. In such cases, acquittal of the accused does
not in all cases wipe out the ignominy suffered during and
prior to trial. Some times, adverse media coverage adds to
the misery,” the judges said.
-
R. Venkataraman.“Dowry law no licence to settle
scores: SC”. The Telegraph. Friday, July 22, 2005.
“The fact that we issued a warning should be an indication
of how widespread the problem is,” says John Peters, the US
State department’s citizen services specialist for India.
-
Lisa Tsering.“Indian Husbands from U.S. Fall
Victim to Dowry-Immigration Fraud in India”.
IndiaWest, December 30th, 2004.
Referring to the provision of arrest, the Court said it has been
much abused and exploited by the police in offences related
to section 498a/406 (cruelty by husband for dowry/criminal
breach of trust) of IPC where all relatives including husband
and even old or minors are arrested.
Emphasising that unless the allegations are of “very serious
nature” and “highest magnitude”, the arrest should
always
be avoided”, the Court observed “arrest of a person
for less
serious or such kinds of offence or offences which can be
investigated without arrest by the police cannot be brooked
by any civilized society”.
“Power to arrest is altogether different than the need
for arrest,” the Court observed and added “no authority
howsoever powerful or mighty can be allowed to deny
a person his liberty as it hits at the very foundation of
democratic structure”
“About 80 percent of total cases of alleged dowry deaths
in Vaishali district are lodged by so-called victims’ relatives
for blackmailing the in-laws,” says the Vaishali SP Shobha
Ohatker.
Talking to TNN here recently, the SP said that there is a trend
of levelling allegations of demand of money as dowry in
most of the cases. Married women often do this under the
pressure of their “greedy” parents, she added.
-
“Majority of dowry cases are false”: SP. The Times
of India. Cities: Patna. Tuesday, August 19, 2003.
In some cases lawyers have been appalled to find elderly
relatives of the husband and even visiting relatives of the
husband implicated in the case. In some cases the husband
and his family are virtually being blackmailed into coughing
up money and reach an out-of-court settlement.
Eminent lawyer Bishnu Charan Ghosh says,“As a lawyer
I have never come across such gross abuse of any of the
provisions of any Act as I am experiencing in 498a IPC cases”.
-
FIE Rahul: “Some brides are ‘villains’, not
victims:
lawyers”. The Times of India. Cities: Kolkata.
Wednesday, May 01, 2002. DS
Sociologist Bula Bhadra believes that domestic violence
against men is yet to become a public issue.“If we go by
the numbers, it’s still a private issue. I believe anyone
can
be abusive.We need to look at the bigger picture.We have
to take into account the power relations — whoever is in
the dominant position in a family structure, be it a man or
a woman, will tend to use his or her power to inflict hurt on
the other. But as women are gaining more power today, we
can see a ‘fear psyche’ working among men.”
Aruna Mukherjee, a senior advocate at the Calcutta High
Court says,“I have been practising law for many years. I have
seen innumerable cases where women misuse Section 98 A.
I always felt that there should be a forum for men…Women
do cause great harm to men and contribute significantly to
the breakdown of marriages.”
-
Anirban Das Mahapatra.“Help! My wife beats me”.
The Telegraph. Tuesday, December 13, 2005.
To know more facts about 498a, search the
Internet for:
-
“498a”
-
"Misuse Dowry laws"
-
”Elder abuse India”
-
“Misuse of 498a”.
Domestic violence law - A shield or a sword?
Feminist organizations have unequivocally and unanimously
hailed the implementation of the Domestic Violence (DV) Act
in India.They claim that this law will empower victims and
protect them from abuse.
Most people in their right state of mind would
agree that domestic violence in a relationship is not
acceptable. It is only fair that for their own mental and
emotional health and for the well-being of the children,
that the victims be protected from abusive partners.
On the face of it, the law appears to be a blessing for people
in abusive or violent relationships. However, a careful
analysis reveals that, under the ploy of “women welfare”,
this
law is yet another misguided attempt to enact legislation
to grant women legal supremacy over men and to create a
society where men are deprived of their rights.
There are three fundamental problems with this law – a) it
is overwhelmingly gender biased in favor of women, b) the
potential for misuse is astounding and c) the definition of
domestic violence is too expansive.
The DV act singles out men as perpetrators of domestic
violence and assumes that only women are victims. As per
this law, only a woman can file a complaint against her male
partner. A man, who is a victim of domestic violence, has no
rights under this law. According to this law, it’s permissible
for
a wife to nag, insult and even physically abuse her husband.
The fact is that it has been comprehensively proven in
numerous studies [please see references] that women are no
less abusive as men in intimate. Giving such sweeping legal
powers to women, while withholding protection to male
victims, is tantamount to systematic legal victimization of
men. In the western world, the domestic violence laws are
gender neutral and provide protection to the victims, both
men and women.The fact that the Indian version explicitly
prohibits any male victim to seek relief under this law defies
all logic and is beyond comprehension.The upliftment of
deprived and disadvantaged women is a noble goal but
empowering women by victimizing men is gross injustice.
The second significant flaw in this law is that it lends itself to
such easy misuse that many women will find it hard to resist
the temptation to “teach a lesson” to their male relatives
and
will file frivolous and false cases. A similar trend is already
being observed in the case of anti-dowry law ( 498a), which
is being misused to such an extent that the Supreme Court
has termed it “Legal Terrorism”.To illustrate how easy it
is to
misuse the DV law, consider the scenarios below. [She means
wife/female live-in partner and he means husband/male
live-in partner]
a) If she demands any amount of money from him,
for any reason whatsoever, he is legally bound
to pay that amount in full, failing which he can
be imprisoned. Under the pretext of preventing
economic abuse of women, this law legalizes the
extortion of money by women. Interestingly, if he
asks for money from her, he can be jailed for that
as well. Furthermore, he is responsible for paying
the rent if the couple resides in a shared rented
accommodation.
b) As per the law, she retains the right to the residence.
This is a very convenient means of getting control of
the house regardless of whether she has any legal
right on the property.
c) If she decides not to cook and wishes to eat out in a
restaurant everyday, he cannot afford not to oblige,
lest he invites the DV provision for “not providing
food”, for which he could be jailed.
d) If she has an affair and he tries to prevent her from
meeting her lover, he could be punished under
the DV act, as he is preventing her from meeting
someone.
e) He can be booked under the DV act if she feels that
she has been insulted. Insult is a relative term, which
is totally left to her discretion. Interestingly, if she
insults and abuses him verbally or even physically, he
does not have any legal recourse in this law.
f ) Divorced wives and former girl friends can legally
claim a right to live in the residence of the man, if
she has ever cohabited with him in that house.This
can potentially be done after 5, 10, 20 or even 50
years after the relationship has ended.
These are just some of the ways in which women can
exploit men in a legally permitted manner.The fact that the
complaint by a woman will be treated, prima facie, as “true
and genuine” opens up a whole new realm of possibilities
where innocent men will be accused and implicated in false
cases, just because they refuse to give in to her unreasonable
demands. In fact, its legally possible for the wife’s paramour
to make a complaint against the husband (of course, with the
active support of the wife), get him kicked out of the house
and then move in the house, while the innocent husband
is forced to pay the rent while he languishes in jail.The
likelihood of large scale misuse of this law is phenomenal
given the sloppy drafting.
Most people, including the ones that helped draft and push
the law in the parliament, readily agree that the law will be
misused.Their counter arguments generally are
a) The number of misuses will be very low OR every
law is misused – The objective of any law should be
to punish the guilty and protect the innocent.The
persecution of innocents cannot be justified in any
circumstances. As is the case with 498a, this law will
be heavily misused in urban India. Statistics prove
that more than 90% of the cases filed under the
dowry law ( 498a) are false [see references]
b) If she is happy, then why will she file a complaint –
Ah ! So, the man exists at the mercy of the woman. If
the wife wants to kick out old parents from home or
wants to pursue an affair and should the man dare
to object, she can get him incarcerated with alacrity.
Any law that forcefully subjects a section of a society
to conduct as per the pleasure of another section
is deemed oppressive and should be vehemently
opposed.
c) There are other provisions to deal with the misuse
of this law – The fact is that there are other legal
provisions to deal with domestic violence as well. If
a strict law is made for a specific purpose, then the
provisions for dealing with its misuse should be in
the law itself.
The third major flaw in this law is that it provides an all-
encompassing definition of domestic violence and some
terms (insults, name calling) are extremely subjective.
The radical feminists claim that 70% of women in India
face domestic violence.While these statistics can not be
confirmed [pls see references], however, given that even
an insult is considered domestic violence, it is clear that
this number has been really blown out of proportion.
Interestingly, they are silent on how many Indian men suffer
domestic violence using the same criteria. Nagging wives
are a well known phenomenon and it would qualify for
verbal abuse as per this law, which would mean an equally
high number of men are victims of domestic violence. If
the criteria for defining domestic violence, as per this law,
are to be believed, then practically every man and woman
in a relationship is a victim of domestic violence !! The fact
is that these statistics are not an accurate reflection of the
social conditions.They seem to have been conveniently
misrepresented to promote vested interests.
This law strikes at the very foundation of marriage by
promoting intolerance and litigation for petty domestic
disputes. It is universally recognized that from time to time
differences arise in a marriage and sometimes people, both
men and women, behave in hurtful ways towards each other.
Most people, though, are able to work them out and lead a
more or less happy life with their loved one. However, this
law makes it very easy to escalate the domestic problems
in daily life to such a level that it eventually leads to a
breakdown in marriage. Once a man has been accused of
domestic violence for a something relatively minor (insult),
while he might have been subjected to the same treatment
from her, he will perpetually feel threatened by his partner
and that is the beginning of the end.This law will lead to
more divorces, broken homes and the children will pay the
ultimate price by getting robbed of a happy childhood.
There are degrees of domestic violence and not all conflicts
in a relationship can be termed as domestic violence.This law
trivializes the issue of domestic violence by including minor
differences in its realm and by explicitly denying protection
to half of the population.
The law in its current form is grossly inadequate to tackle
the problem of domestic violence. It imposes a lot of
responsibility on men, without giving them rights. On the
other hand, it gives lots of rights to women without requiring
them to be responsible. At the very minimum, it should be
made gender neutral, offering protection to both men and
women. Also, provisions for stringent punishments need to
be incorporated into the law to prevent misuse. Moreover,
the law needs to be made more practical by differentiating
between various degrees of conflicts and by unambiguously
defining what constitutes domestic violence.
The fact is domestic violence is a serious problem and a
neutral and unprejudiced law is needed to protect the
genuine victims of domestic violence, irrespective of
gender.The perpetrators of domestic violence need to be
appropriately punished and dealt with. At the same time,
protection cannot be withheld from real victims for any
reason whatsoever, least of all their gender. One can be
certain that there is something sinister about a law, when
it intimidates and instills fear in innocent people.When a
person who has not committed any crime, begins to fear
punishment under the provisions of a law, it is not a law
anymore – it is state sponsored terrorism.
References
-
-
The US Govt. National family violence surveys of 1975 and 1985
(http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv-21.htm).
-
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Ms. Renuka Chadhary’s interview by Mr. Karan
Thapar [available on the 498a.org videos section -
http://www.498a.org/video.htm
]
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A few True Stories of 498a victims
See how innocent men and women are victimized
by the draconian 498a law. See for yourself how
easy it is for a wife to use this case to destroy an
innocent man and his complete family. Look at how
distressed people are when they contact us (some
even considering suicide).Look at failed relationships,
failed marriages and how kids just become pawns
in the hands of unscrupulous women. Look at all
the injustice that has been meted out to these
families and see how some of them were betrayed
by someone they considered their own. All cases are
different but still have one thing in common – They
are all victims of the legal system in which they are
presumed guilty without even been given a chance
to present their side of the story.
WIFE USES NRI HUSBAND FOR IMMIGRATION
VISA AND 498A’s HIM – HUSBAND’S MOTHER
HOSPITALIZED
A Victim from Singapore
I am an NRI. I would like to draw your kind attention
to the extreme abuse of anti-dowry Section 498a of
IPC with my case. I am among many of the hundreds
of thousands person whose whole innocent family is
tortured just on a false complain if the wife is unable to
adjust with her husband.The sufferers have to go under
harassment and extreme stress after being held in
police lockup and jail without any ground of proof and
these people are assumed guilty by law. Is this justice
to innocent senior citizen of India? Please go through
my what happened to my innocent parents and brother
after 1 months of my separation with my wife. I hope
necessary actions are taken to prevent the misuse of any
law.These incidents are now very common and many
people are suffering because of such blind laws.
I am working as IT professional in Australia since last
seven years. I completed my education (MCA) in India
and have been in good job since then. I am currently
in Sydney. My parents are living in Faridabad. I got
arranged marriage in India Oct 2001 and sponsored
my wife, PS, to come over to Australia (on permanent
residency visa) to live with me.We stayed together for
eight months and during that period I found her to be
extremely dishonest, unloyal, unfaithful, a big liar and
greedy for money and it was obvious her intention to
marry was just to come over to Australia and for the
money. She had been asking me to sponsor her brother
to Australia as well and to bear all his expenses on his
education and living.There was no love, commitment
though I tried my best to compromise with the situation
and have excused her on all occasions assuming it may
take time for her to adjust.
We went to India in Oct 2002 and there she tried a
lot of trouble by creating misunderstanding between
brothers, their wives and started stealing jewellery and
cash from home to take it to her mothers place. Have
been talking vulgar about my mother and brother.
Then she was involved in a horrifying crime by secretly
stealing and then destroying the passports of my
younger brother and his wife.They are living in USA and
where also on holidays there. My brother is working as
software engineer in Chicago. She did it just two days
before their departure and my brothers whole career
was in danger as he could not go to USA. It is a long
process to get the new passport issued and then get
visa processing again. It was a mental torture for all of
us. It was not known where the passport have gone
until three days when the time came for me and my wife
to come to back to Sydney. Our luggage was packed it
was just five hours before our departure when we were
getting ready and I found a trace of torn passport photo
inside the toilet. It took me no time to understand by
her activities that it was her act. I had to postpone our
return to Sydney. I called my father-in-law and sent her
back (Nov 2002 ). I have all the proofs with me that she
has damaged the passport. She has tried to torture
everyone in the family by her cruel and criminal acts. I
then came back alone to Sydney in extreme stress.
I regretted a lot for marrying and loving such a stupid
girl. She contacted me many times after that and
asked me to call her back to Sydney. But her intentions
were still clear. I can not live whole life with her. I am
Australian citizen and by the Australian laws (validated
by Indian law as well) I applied for divorce at the earliest
possible date and had sent her notice on 16 Dec 2003
in Gujarat where she lives.The notice was received by
her. Later suddenly on 14 th Jan 2004 , police and lawyer
from Indore came and arrested my aged parents and
my youngest brother who lives in Faridabad and within
few hours took them to Indore.They have to get me as
well but since I am in Australia, they can’t arrest me. My
wife had filed a false case of torture in dowry case under
section 498A in Indore (Though her residence is in
Unjha, Gujarat). She put a false allegation that I and my
parents and have beaten her many times and even have
tried to burn her for demand of dowry. I or my parents
or any family member have never ever touched her
with any bad intentions. She has accused this allegation
after 14 moths of separation upon receipt of divorce
notice. She didn’t even mention the fact, the real reason
for what she was sent back to her fathers place. Rather
she said that she came back herself.Though I have
enough proofs for my claims.When my wife had spend
just about initial month or two in whole of our married
life with my parents. Also she had been separated and
staying away for more than a year.
I was extremely shocked. I do not have nor my
parents or brother have even touched her anytime
with any intention of beating or burning.We are from
respectable family. My father is retired engineer from
Dept of Atomic Energy. My brothers are well settled and
are earning extremely well.
She did such criminal act, still being decent we
sent her back respectfully with her father when we
separated. If we would have been strict, we could even
have got her arrested for destroying passports. But still
we respected her being a woman.
It was a brutal torture to my innocent retired aged
parents and my innocent brother.Without any notice
they had to travel from Faridabad to Indore in police
custody for three days a distance of about 900km in
police vehicle. My mother is heart patient and is under
treatment. She was extremely exhausted; it was a big
risk for her. How can police just come and arrest and
torture anyone just on someone’s fraudulent and false
allegation. Later my elder brother had to go from
Rajasthan to get them released on bail on 16th Jan after
spending one night in lockup and three days in police
custody.
My parents have lived a very clean and respectful
life but now have to see such a days. It is big slap on
Indian judiciary that they can just destroy anyone’s
dignity and can prosecute without trial.There is no
respect for senior citizens who have served the country
for the whole life. At the same time the legal system
have a blind faith on crook, cunning young married
women and her parents. I am feeling dismay. My aged
parents and brother have to suffer who have nothing to
do with my wife. My crook wife and her greedy parents
aim is to get me and extract a lot of money forms me.
As a figure in India, almost 90% of such cases are
dismissed by the court after find the case as malicious,
but there is no punishment of making false allegations.
Almost all the divorce ends up in 498A, where the reality
is that dowry is not practiced and hardly any women are
harassed in educated well earning family in urban area.
And of 90% cases the police get a good excuse to harass
any respectable person and then to discharge them
after harassing. Lawyers and police are making a big
money by trapping innocent citizens.
She was successful to get the complaint lodged
at Indore and the police from other state came and
arrested my parents and brother without permission
of local police in Faridabad. Also a copy of FIR is still not
been handed over to us.
In the ongoing crises my aged mother in India
was admitted in hospital with severe cardiac pain and
abnormal blood pressure on 22nd Jan’04 while they
have to arrange lawyers and plan the visit to attend
the next date 29th Jan with a notice of just 7 working
days to be attend in Indore 900km far from our place.
My mother’s health is so severe that she is going to be
operated today on 23rd Jan. Not attending will weaken
our case.Who is going to look after my mothers and
aged father health?
As I am also the accused in my wife’s complaint, I can’t
go there in India as the police will arrest me. I am just
helpless. As such there is no fair judicial or law system in
India. It’s against the basic right to live with respect.
WIFE KILLED CHILD FOR EXTORTING MONEY
A Victim from Pune
Following has happened with me and my family till
date.
-
Married in Feb 2003 according to Hindu rituals.This
was arranged marriage.
-
Within the first month itself she ran away from my
house AFTER MIDNIGHT FOR NO REASON and came back
after 3-4 hours.
-
I tried to enquire the reason, she said, this marriage
was against her will and she wanted to marry someone
else.
-
When my parents tried to sort the matter out, she
kicked my father. Aggrieved by such abusive behaviour,
my father (and other family members) disconnected
relations from me.
-
My father in law demanded 15 Lakhs, saying that we
want to remarry our daughter to someone else. So, give
us this much amount OR we will implicate you in false
dowry harassment cases.
-
As my wife was pregnant at that time, she threatened
to pay her Rs. 15 Lakhs and divorce otherwise she will
kill the child.
-
I filed a police complaint regarding this, requesting
police to save the unborn child. But Police didn’t take
any action. So, I tried to put my request in the court,
there too a LONG date was given. MEANWHILE, the
delivery time came and she was at her parent’s house.
THEY REALLY KILLED THE CHILD, as I was not ready for
divorce and not in a position to pay that much amount.
-
After doing all this things, no department/officer
is paying attention to my request. My in-laws are still
making their unlawful demands. Case is in the court
and ‘Date after Date’ is going on.Till date I am feeling
depressed because of all this. I wonder what was the
fault of the new born, who was killed by them at the
time of birth. It was a baby girl.
-
Currently I am running from pillar to post in hope of
justice. As they are politically very sound, sono one is
paying attention to my case.
-
At last I can conclude that due to this blackmailing
tool in the form of ‘false dowry harassment complaint
+ arresting of all accused without enquiry’ (as no one in
our family history been to police stations or Jail), I have
lost my relations with three generations i.e. My Parents
(and in-laws) + My brother (and brother in laws) + My
daughter (Already killed). In future too I don’t think
that they will understand the importance of “Family
Harmony”.
HARRASED HUSBAND TRIES TO COMMIT SUICIDE
– WIFE 498A’s HIM
A Victim from Hyderabad
I got married in February 1998. I am from Andhra
and she is from Maharashtra. Immediately after my
marriage I went to Malaysia because of my job. She
joined my after few months.We got a child and now he
is around 5 yrs old.When she was with me in Malaysia
she always used to take lot of money and used to
send to her parents without my knowledge. My uncle
had taken a loan of around 3 lakhs from me in various
occasions when she was with me. But I have only few
receipts of around 1.5 lakh as it happened few years
back.
My wife always used to suspect me and made
several insults in front of my colleagues and friends.
Whenever I come to India for few days also she always
used to insist to take either separate house or stay
outside for staying rather than at my home. She used
to insult my parents and my sisters when they met me
or I was with them. One time when I came to India and
I forcibly brought her my home to stay for few days,
her parents came to my house and created lot of fuss,
shouted at my parents & me and insulted in front of
my relatives & friends. I couldn’t bear this and tried to
commit suicide. Somehow I got survived and I came to
home. As soon I reached home they started shouting
again and took her daughter along with them.This
incident happened in October 2003. I tried to mediate
with them through some elders of my community but
they refused to send their daughter and they insulted
the elders whom we sent to them.
got fed up all this and then applied for divorce
on mentally cruelty grounds in Oct 2003 itself and left
India. As their place is near to Mumbai (not Mumbai, a
small town 100 km away from Mumbai) they applied
for change of court in Supreme Court. In the mean they
filed a petition for maintenance at their place, but I
didn’t’t challenge it.The Supreme Court gave the order
to change case to Thane, Maharashtra family court.This
happened in early 2004. Since the case came to Thane
court nothing progressed. Since I applied for divorce I
had been trying through mediators to settle the issue
and get the divorce mutually. But they never cooperated
and everything went vain of all my efforts.
In Nov 2004 , my sister (unmarried) passed away
because of some health problem. By seeing this mother
went to coma. I then came to India immediately and
admitted her in hospital on the same night without
attending my sister’s funeral. My mother went on coma
for 3 days. I was in hospital for 14 days with my mother.
While in the hospital none from their side came (my
uncle is my mother’s own brother and they got to know
the news on the same day it happened). I even tried one
time for negotiation with the through mediators while I
was in hospital. But again I was failed. Immediately after
my mother discharged (the next day it self), I left India.
In the early 2005 I have got Australian Permanent
Resident and I moved to Australia. Since then I kept
on sending the maintenance allowance to her from
Australia. But they refused to take. In the mean I applied
for divorce from Australia itself and I have got divorce
from Australian Court in November 2005. By seeing my
divorce petition my wife file a false case, 498A against
me and my parents in Nov 2005.
The Maharashtra Police came in the mid of the night
and arrested my father.They tried to arrest my mother
but seeing her health condition (she is quite old and
can’t even walk properly). My father spent one week
in the police station. In the one-week the Police again
to my place (from Maharashtra to Andhra) brought my
father to my home one more time for taking their things
from my home(They took lots of things even I bought
for my home also like TV, fridge,Washing Machine,
etc.,).The Police even tried to took the money from my
NRI account and locker (my wife knows well about my
savings in my NRI account and locker). But the bank
Manager refused to handover to Police as they didn’t
have court orders. I engaged one lawyer who resides in
Mumbai (took lot of money but did nothing much, as we
don\’t know any body in Mumbai/Maharashtra). After a
week my father came out on bail. I engaged one more
local lawyer again there it self as my lawyer couldn’t
show much interest again (I feel he might have joined
with them). Since then my father attended one time
for hearing.We again started negotiating with them
again.This time they sent a mediator to us and told a
huge amount for mutual agreement. I spent most of my
savings for my family, their family and to Lawyers. Now
the amount they asked which I simply can’t give as it is
impossible for me.
Yester day I heard from my lawyer that they filed
a petition in Maharashtra court to Passport Office,
Hyderabad to cancel my Passport, so that I can come
to India. Now I want to seek help/guide from you all
in this matter. Ever since I married and even I got the
divorce from Australian Court also I am still mentally
getting tortured. So my dear friends pls help me in this
regard as I am very frustrated now. I need your advice,
suggestions. I can’t trust anyone in India except you all
as you are like me.
AMERICAN WOMAN MARRIED TO INDIAN
DUMBFOUNDED BY INDIAN LAW
Victim from USA
I am writing to you because I have reached a desperate
level and I have nowhere else to turn. I am an American
married to an NRI. I have only traveled to India once, and that
for less than 2 weeks.This trip was a happy occasion, one that
allowed me to meet my husband’s family and to get to know
them and vise-versa. Since my departure from India my life
has been a nightmare. My family and I have become victims
of the rampant misuse of the 498A laws in India. My brotherin-
law’s wife and her family have falsely accused my family of
some sort of abuse and are demanding obscene amounts of
money to settle this fraudulent case. My 54-year-old mother-in-
law has been imprisoned for over two weeks now and I
have been told that she will remain there indefinitely. She is a
diabetic widow whose health is failing. I must be quite frank
with you, she is dying. I have been informed that the only
way to get her out of prison is to settle with my brother-inlaws
wife and her family. I have been told that if I do not do
this, my mother-in-law could spend up to 3 years in prison
for a crime she did not commit. She has been arrested and
imprisoned based solely on the statements of a deceptive
young woman who is looking only for financial gain at my
personal expense.There has been no investigation of any
kind. No evidence to substantiate her fraudulent claims. It
is simply her word. I ask you, what should I do? I have an
attorney in New Delhi working on this case but I feel he
may not be the best in this area because he seems to be
continually blindsided by the other side. In the United States
this type of activity is called extortion and I would be able to
bail my mother-in-law out of prison while the charges were
being investigated. I have been informed that in India people
accused of 498A charges are “guilty until proven innocent”.
Do you have any suggestions on what steps should I take in
this unfortunate situation?
HOPE AT LAST – ADULTEROUS WIFE TAKEN TO TASK
-Victim from Jharkhand
I had caught my wife living in adultery with my
friends in Dubai on 23rd April, 2005. Have letters and
mobile recording of her. My daughter is eye-witness to
her unbecoming behaviour. She accepted her fault, and
I told her that I shall now seek divorce. Brought whole
family from Abu Dhabi on 28th April, 2005. She was left
at Her parent’s house. I took my children with me.
Two days later, she was to meet at Family court to
discuss mutual consent divorce to save the face of her
family. After days, I was summoned by Police of her
area as she has filed CR106/2005 under IPC 498a on
4th May\2005. My lawyer told me to proceed to my
work. I was arrested like a terrorist at Mumbai airport
at Immigration on 7th May, 2005. I surrendered.Was
brought at Police Station, and put behind bar along with
hard-core criminals. My relatives came, including lawyer.
My children/cousins sang bhajans/prayed outside the
jail. It was there I learnt what IPC- 498a is, and what
devastating blows it can land on one’s life!! but I got bail.
Next day, I hired a local lawyer thru the help of
same police station, paid hefty amount only to apply
for return of passport. Again, God\’s hand was seen
- Judge heard my prayer which I myself narrated, and
granted me permission to go back to work abroad with
conditions to retain my children in India. I obeyed the
order.
I got my children admitted in residential school
outside Mumbai. Filed Divorce under cruelty/adultery
on 15th June\’05. Attended 498a charge-sheet filing on
16th June\2005. My Wife later filed children custody
and maintenance petitions in family court. Later, She
applied Interim applications. I attended family court
on 1st Dec\’05. She later went to High Court, and
managed thru wrong means a stay order on my NRISBI
Bonds. I attended 498a trial on 23rd Jan 2006. It
was usual drama of attendance with long date after 6
months!
I attended family court on 24th Jan 2006 along
with my two children. Again attended family court
on 13th Feb.2006 along with children. I was made to
bring children to court on both occasions! Returned
her passport, and disclosed whereabouts of children to
her before court. I challenged her Stay Order in Appeal
Court on 15th Feb’06 and exposed her lawyer\’s fraud
of getting Stay-order to frustrate me! HC accepted the
appeal and fired/warned her lawyer. HC asked us not to
come to HC again, and to rely on family court verdicts.
Main trial has yet to begin.
I guess, mentally I am in strong position - for
the reasons that I still have my jobs, my children are
studying well, healthy, happy and are on my side.Today,
my children hate their biological mother, and hardly
miss their mother. My daug. Is 13-1/2 yrs and son is
10yrs. Now the ball is in her court. Unless she quashes
498a in HC, no settlement is possible from my side. I am
ready to prove her fault.
I suggest all victims not to give up, never think of
suicide etc.Truth always wins, though it has to traverse
thru troubled waters. Have firm faith in god, and
proceed with right action, and ‘chaankya neeti’.
References and Resources
Collection of News Article References:
Interviews:
Blogs:
Research Reports
Informative Sites:
Books:
Who Stole Feminism – Christina Summers
Myth of Male Power – Warren Farrell
Some Key Studies:
-
-
-
Nearly 200 studies around the world show that men and women are
equally likely to
engage in partner aggression:
http://www.
csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
-
-
-
“When She Was Bad – Violent Women and the Myth of
Innocence”,
written by Patricia Pearson, a self-described feminist
NRI Harassment:
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