Law & Society

In today's Indian society is the 'Dowry Law' really helping people or is it being misused is indeed the moot point.

I have a question for the Law makers, when the 'Dowry Law' was enacted did anybody think of the other side of the coin also vis-А-vis, misuse of the Law. In fact, I write this after being witness to many incidents where clever people are misusing the Law.

Unfortunately, it is the educated masses of our society who always misuse certain Laws for their own benefit and the 'Dowry Law' is no exception. Everybody knows that this is one of the strongest Laws and people booked under this Law have no choice other than to lead their lives in jails. Some clever girls and their parents are using this Law to their benefit, if they feel that things are not going the way they want to.

In fact there have been instances where the bride's family has threatened the groom's family if things haven't gone their way. This has resulted in a number of innocent people suffering.

To quote an instance, an MTech from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and his family had to suffer the ignominy of jail under the current 'Dowry Law' for no fault of theirs.

The girl in question invoked the Law just because she couldn't get adjusted to the family of the engineer. It took the aggrieved family almost seven years to prove their innocence. The victim, who used to be a very intelligent person, has now become and nervous wreck and drug addict.

Just last year I came across another such incident. A friend of mine got married to a girl arranged by the respective parents. After the first day of marriage the girl told the him that she was not interested in this marriage, but she had to put up with it as her parents did not want to lose such a good income earning NRI guy.

She also told him that she was in love with someone else and will keep meeting her lover. When my friend objected, the girl's parents booked him under the Law.

One more instance is of a girl and her parents who harassed a guy just because he refused to go back to the US post 9/11. In fact, the girl creates such a ruckus that the neighbours always tend to believe her rather than view the issue in its right perspective.

He has written to a number of people including top police officers to conduct a just enquiry and sort the matter out. But, all his pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Will our judicial system mete out justice to such aggrieved males?

A number of such cases abound in cities like Delhi, but nobody seems to be bothered.

Will there be a law to protect innocent males?

OVER the last ten to 15 years, penal statutes have been amended under pressure from women's groups in order to prevent marital violence against women. These changes seek to protect women against all forms of marital violence by broadening the definition of cruelty, making penalties higher, and relaxing evidentiary requirements. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, was amended in 1984, 1985 and 1986.

Dowry deaths constitute a special category of death that was first defined in a section introduced into the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1986. Section 304(B) stipulates that a death of a woman within seven years of her marriage by burns or bodily injury wi th evidence of cruelty or harassment by her husband or his relatives in connection with a demand for dowry is a "dowry death" and punishable with imprisonment for not less than seven years.

Three years prior to this, Section 498(A) was introduced in the IPC. This states that any form of cruelty, whether it is from a husband or the relative of a husband, to a woman is an offence that is punishable with imprisonment up to three years. Cruelty , as defined in this section, includes any wilful conduct that could cause mental torture, physical injury, or drive the woman to commit suicide, whether in connection with any unlawful demand for property or not. In fact, the first part of Chapter XVI o f the IPC (Sections 299 to 311, which are offences affecting life) can also be invoked in case of a dowry death or suicide. Under Sections 299, 300, 301 and 304(A), culpable homicide, murder and death by negligence are crimes. Section 302 lays down the p unishment for murder: death sentence or imprisonment for life.

Sections 113A (Presumption as to abetment of suicide of a married woman) and 113B (presumption as to dowry death) were added to the Indian Evidence Act and can be invoked in cases of dowry murder or suicide. The Code of Criminal Procedure (mainly Section s 174 and 175) lays down the procedure and principles of investigation into a crime.

Despite these legal safeguards, the incidence of domestic and marital violence has continued to grow: indeed, violence has acquired more grotesque and outrageous forms, while the perpetrators of such violence can yet escape the law.

Tiny signboards hang precariously on the central verge at many a traffic junction in New Delhi, inviting the attention of passers-by.

'Are you being harassed by your wife? Contact the men's cell,' the board, which also has a mobile number, says.

One phone call later, you learn that it is a one-man crusade against wives who harass or blackmail their husbands and the crusader is a lawyer-- willing to extend a helping hand.

"There are no laws to protect a man from being harassed and blackmailed by his wife. The anti-dowry laws are highly biased towards women. How does a man protect himself against constant nagging and suspicion?" questions R P Chugh, a Supreme Court advocate who started a men's advocacy group Crime Against Man Cell aka Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Husbands way back in the 80s to take head on cases of 'false charges of dowry harassment and torture'.

- Teach in wife's presence, dance teacher told

Chugh claims, without naming anyone, the top notch of bureaucracy and judiciary of Delhi have, at some point or the other approached him with marital woes, complaining of harassment by their wives.

Chugh says he has long been campaigning for a legislation for 'Protection of Rights and Dignity of Married Men' is immediately required.

"Almost 87 per cent of women lodged in Tihar jail have been booked on anti-dowry complaints," Chugh claims quoting media reports.

Citing a recent case, Chugh says a woman from Haryana was quick to slap a dowry harassment suit on her husband when she was allegedly caught in a compromising situation with her husband's colleague.

Most crime against men go unnoticed as a man's ego does not allow him to admit that the wife regularly attacks him with an assortment of household items, Chugh says.

The lawyer has taken a war of sorts against the society to defend the 'dignity and rights of men in married lives', and holds dharnas every year on Human Rights Day.

"The Dowry (Prohibition) Act safeguards women's rights but unfortunately it can also victimise an innocent man whose wife wants to blackmail him or draw heavy compensation," he says.

Although crime against women and domestic violence is a reality, through his chequered career in law, Chugh says he has defended numerous men against false claims of torture, dowry harassment and destroying marital harmony.

A similar 'brother' organisation, which reportedly is thriving in Kolkata has also seen men coming out more often to register their protest against 'exploitation' by wives, he says.

"I have a number of cases with me and the complaints vary from silent resistance-- of refusing to speak to their spouse after a row-- or constant nagging or actual physical violence," he says.

Chugh says that many of the rape charges filed against men are 'fake' and are simply examples of 'a woman scorned'.

However, while feminists have criticised his radical views over the years, Chugh says it hasn't deterred him from pitching for men and will not either in future.