This Woman Is Fighting For The Rights Of Men Implicated In False Dowry Cases By Their Wives

For Deepika Bhardwaj, abuses are a part of daily routine. Her social media accounts keep buzzing with intimidations and threats to sue. But this is normal, given the work that she has chosen to do, at a time when 'feminism' remains the hot topic across the world.

Deepika is fighting against the abuse of men, by women, who slap false charges of harassment and dowry on their husbands and their families. ¡°Abuse of men is real, but the refuses to accept it and put its head around the fact. There are men and families abused and tortured by women, but in our country, the most widely accepted notion is that only a woman can be abused,¡± she says.

As many as 31,292 cases of alleged cruelty by husbands and in-laws, filed by women under Section 498A of the IPC between 2011 and 2013, were found false or mistake of fact or law after a police investigation, said minister of state for home affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha in March 2015.

The trend is worrying, not just because men are falsely implicated but also because the case for women, who are already pressurised for dowry and face domestic violence, becomes weak.

A complaint under the law allows for immediate arrest and jailing of the accused, often the husband and his family members, but campaigners say the provision is frequently misused with many women filing false cases.

The number of false cases under Section 498A has increased over the past few years - 10,193 in 2011, 10,235 in 2012 and 10,864 in 2013.

Similarly, a total of 1,207 cases of insult to the modesty of women (Section 509 of the IPC) were found untrue after a police investigation.

Vivek Basra got married in December 2014. He has been fighting a false case of dowry and domestic violence for over three years now. ¡°My then 45-days pregnant wife and her family beat me up and even took away Rs 50,000 cash kept in my home. She filed a complaint in Women¡¯s Cell but failed to furnish evidence while accusing me of domestic violence. I got to know that she gave birth to a daughter. I have never seen her,¡± says a teary-eyed Basra.

Basra is one among thousands of men who have been wrongly framed and accused of harassment, perpetrating violence and dowry demands. The problem is not only real but also rampant.

Why do women file false cases?

Deepika¡¯s fight at the moment is against the misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code which is a tough anti-dowry law. The law was made with noble intentions yet is prone to abuse, by women. The law made to save lives has also taken many lives.

The cases of divorces are rising steadily in India. Campaigners and activists fighting for the rights of men say that disgruntled women, aided by deceitful lawyers, routinely harass their husbands and relatives.

Over the years, Section 498A has acquired the reputation of being the "most abused law in the history of Indian jurisprudence".

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Every year more than 10,000 complaints of dowry harassment are found to be false. Given that close to 90,000 to One lakh cases are investigated every year, the figure makes it one of the most abused laws in the country.

"In 2011, a cousin's marriage fell apart within three months and his wife accused him and our entire family of beating her and demanding dowry from her. She filed a false case against us. I was also named as an accused, as someone who beat her and tortured her regularly," she says.

Deepika said her family paid a huge sum of money to buy peace but even though the case got over, the family was not at peace.

In most cases, infidelity is the root cause. If a man engages in adultery, the woman files a case and if a woman is adulterous, again she files a case. The Indian law is extremely easy on women and finding loopholes to suit one¡¯s needs is a cakewalk.

Husbands and their families are put behind bars on mere accusations of a woman. ¡°Simple misunderstandings, simple arguments eventually lead to a point where couples become really against each other and then the biggest weapon in the hands of the women was Section 498A of IPC. A woman moving court and telling that the man beat her up or he harassed her is believed instantaneously. The worst thing in these laws is that you can implicate the entire family, from old-age parents, sisters, brothers to children,¡± she adds.

There¡¯s another pattern which is now emerging in cases of 498A is the inclusion of Section 377, which deals with offences of unnatural sex. So, when 498A is coupled with 377, there is hardly any escape left for men. A lot of men who are caught up in these cases commit suicide.

Law must be made gender neutral

It is time that we recognise that there is violence against men as well as in the society and that our lawmakers must understand that men are tortured and are subjected to mental and verbal abuse.

Violence and domestic abuse can be perpetrated both by men and women, irrespective of their gender. Anyone who is subjected to such kind of humiliation or violence should have protection and recourse in the laws.

¡°There is no doubt that women are subjected to gory crimes and they must get quick redressal of complaints. But at the same time, the laws to protect women are misused and there must be a provision to punish women who misuse these laws,¡± says Deepika.

Gauravjeet Singh Saini, a victim of misuse of 498A, has been fighting a court case for the last two years. Saini has been wrongly accused by his wife of demanding dowry and physical violence. ¡°My family has been harassed, there are numerous false cases against us. Imagine my plight that my wife is more educated than me and holds three Masters¡¯ degrees, yet I am the one, who despite false accusations, pays compensation each month,¡± says Saini.

He bats for time-bound trials so that unnecessary harassment could be avoided.

In July 2017, the Supreme Court said that people accused of dowry harassment should not be arrested until charges were verified. The Court ordered the authorities to stop misuse of the anti-dowry law after concerns that a large number of false cases were being filed.

In 2014, during another hearing, the Court took notice of misuse of the law. It had said that the law was enacted to help women, but it was being used as "a weapon by disgruntled wives".