suse of Anti-dowry laws in marital disputes to blackmail husband

Misuse of Anti-dowry laws in marital disputes to blackmail husband
Harassment and blackmail of husbands and their relatives in Marriage Disputes by misuse of Anti-Dowry law (Sec. 498A of IPC), Domestic Violence Act 2005 and related laws by wives.

Marriages in India are supposed to be very sacred and considered to be once in lifetime affair. The marriage occasion is an integral part of social traditions and rituals in which both side family members get involved very emotionally and their community members participate to give blessings for the happy married life. But very recently, increasing number of married couples are experiencing distress and incompatibilities. Due to various socio-economic factors, there is a rapid rise in the discontent marriages in India as a result of which, the rate of Divorces and Separations have gone up. By this unpredictable social disaster, the family courts and other courts, police administration and various Counseling Cells are feeling helpless due to sudden bombardment of matrimonial problem related cases.

It has become a custom in India that a lot of social and legal concerns are expressed for wives in cases of matrimonial disputes, but husbands and their family members are ignored. It turns more fatal to the husband and his entire family when the trivial marriage disputes are given shape of the cruelty to wife due to dowry demands by false intentions of a promiscuous wife. The facts of the matter may be totally different, which are intentionally distorted to gain benefit from women-favored laws of India. There are stringent laws made in favor of women, which are normally misused against those husbands and their parents who don’t agree to their wives' demands. So it adversely impacts the entire family, and rightly proves that the moment of marriage in Indian society is that important decision of life, which can extremely change the lives of not only husband and wife but also the lives of parents. In fact a true harassment case is actually an exception to this rule. As a man is physically stronger while it is claimed by women that women are mentally stronger, hence it’s protecting men from mental violence while protecting women from physical violence. Indian Social & Legal Systems take for granted the notion that in marital dispute and domestic violence cases, the husband, his relatives and friends usually harass his wife for demanding dowry, and ignore the instances when the wife and her relatives falsely accuse and harass the husband and his relatives by putting various false and baseless allegations pertaining to stringent provisions of Anti-Dowry law. It is to misuse the laws for sympathy, extortion and blackmailing. There are special women-favored laws that provide for women who claim to be harassed but not for men. Men, being innocent, who seek to fight back against such harassment find that they have also to fight the systemic bias of the governments, the corrupt system, the police and the courts against them in addition to prejudice propagated by feminist organizations. The harassment of husband and his relatives has grown worst in recent times as the norms of Indian Society has evolved from the Joint Family to the Nuclear Family, making the husband, his parents and relatives more susceptible to domestic violence which is not defined under the law.

To deal with Dowry / Harassment cases, the Anti-Dowry Law Section 498A was inserted into the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in year 1983 by Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act of 1983 (Act No. 46 of 1983). It reads that Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty (mental or physical) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.Explanation: For the purposes of this section, “cruelty” means(a) Any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or(b) Harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.

Analysis of the section shows that this law deals with four types of cruelty: 1) Any conduct that is likely to drive a woman to suicide, 2) Any conduct which is likely to cause grave injury to the life, limb or health of the woman, 3) Harassment with the purpose of forcing the woman or her relatives to give some property, or 4) Harassment because the woman or her relatives are either unable to yield to the demand for more money or do not give some share of the property.
Under this provision, the following acts would amount to cruelty to a wife that may become the ingredients of a false and fabricated FIR:o drinking and coming home late coupled with beating and demand of dowry;o filing false and defamatory proceedings against the wife and humiliating her with search warrants and seizing her personal property;o maltreating wife for dowry and sending her back to her father's house resulting in illness due to shock and after effects of cruelty;o cruelty and harassment of a mistress;o baseless allegations of adultery, infidelity or unchastity of wife;o baseless allegation that wife was carrying illegitimate child;o accusing wife of being barren;o scolding the wife leading her to commit suicide;o repeated demands for dowry articles and money from newly married wife and parents and consequent harassment;o taking away child to harass wife for dowry;

Sec. 498A of IPC is a cognizable crime, which obliges a police officer to arrest the accused without a warrant. In such cases of ‘Crime against Women’, the police authorities are under an obligation to take immediate action on receipt of a complaint or of credible information, visit the scene of the crime, investigate the facts, apprehend the offender and arraign him before a court of law having jurisdiction over the matter. The aims of section 498A were to help wife to stay with her husband, protecting wives from marital violence, abuse, and extortionist dowry demands. But the actual implementation of this Act has left a bitter trail of disappointment. Since there is no penalty or a fine for filing a false case, many women are misusing this law to dictate terms. It is a myth that Sec 498A is protecting the women, in reality it is against women themselves and also adversely effect children and aged people. Reality is 498A is destroying marital harmony and gives no solution to solve the Problems of Marriage; rather it is breaking Indian family system. If the husband has filed for ‘Restitution of Conjugal Rights’ under Section 9 of IPC, or Divorce and wife does not want to comply so she files false complaint under Sec. 498A to blackmail husband to increase her bargaining powers. The IPC498A is so convenient to misuse and worse than TADA or POTA, but the lawmakers didn't consider the effect of any possibility of it's misuse and how it will spoil the basic foundation of institution of marriage in Indian Society.

A large number of cases filed under anti-dowry law IPC 498A are not cases of actual dowry demands, but a reflection of a more sinister design to legally blackmail innocent husband and in-laws for money. This is borne out by the statistics from many sources (including the Council of Social Research) that show that more than 90% of the cases filed under section 498a are without merit. Though projected to be a law benefiting women, 498a has, ironically, victimized countless innocent women related to the husband’s family.

These biased laws and their unfair implementation is increasing the single parenting, distrust in the ‘laws and legal system’ and marriage, dissatisfaction and insecurity among the law abiding citizens and a great hatred and vengeance for country. It is taking a heavy toll on the sensitive minds of young people who are now scared to marry with an Indian bride. Due to these faulty laws, many innocent, lawful and reputed citizens are being defamed as culprits and criminals in society. The whole drama also affects and involves other people of society who are colleagues, friends and relatives of the accused and get shocked to hear the dowry harassment case on accused which they can not believe as they have known the person very well. It is seen that the society is altogether opposing such laws that are heavily misused in the interest of daughter-in-law only, who terrorizes the husband, his family and the whole society. Abuse of Section-498A Should Be immediately curtailed and law abusers should be punished without mercy to stop this dangerous trend, which is creating havoc in family, society and the nation.

Today, the issue of “misuse of laws” has become a real threat to the sustainability and existence of ‘Institution of Marriage’ in Indian society and family. The problem can be controlled by the proactive participation and initiatives of government, senior persons and social workers of society, in the same way when they together raised voice to safeguard harassed women and supported the making of such gender-biased laws which are now easily misused due to corrupt administrative framework.

The state governments and police authorities shall consider the proactive measures while dealing with complaints under “Cruelty Against Women” so that safety and protection of family unit and marriages in Indian society. It is becoming the utmost society’s responsibility today that such laws related to “Crime Against Women’ shall not be misused by unscrupulous women, and the society shall help and support for saving the marriage and the future of involved children, the wife, the husband and their relatives.

Many harassed husbands and their family members cannot handle the drastic and dramatic changes that shake their lives so desperately seek genuine advice. They need experienced persons to share problems of intimate relations that are very sensitive in nature. To sort out the upsurge in such marital disputes, various volunteer based self-help groups are formed to provide free advice and counseling on Indian Marriage Issues like Separation, Divorce, Harassment, Cruelty, Torture, Incompatibility, Depression, Psychological disorders, Misunderstanding and Domestic Violence. They provide free advice for preserving the marital harmony and counseling for amicable settlements between the disputed parties. These self-help groups are formed by victims of abuse of dowry law, that provide support though helplines at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and many other places. Volunteers organize weekly counseling meetings on every Saturday and Sunday. The members are victimized husbands and their family members who are running the country-wide campaign “Save Indian Family Movement” against their false implication in false complaints under laws related to Dowry Harassment like Dowry Prohibition Act (DP Act), Sec. 498A of IPC and the new Domestic Violence Act 2005 (DV Act). The members are actively organizing regular Press Conferences, Seminars, Public Protests and Dharnas around the country to create the social awareness on misuse of ‘women favored laws’. The resourceful websites like http://www.498a.org/ and http://www.mynation.net/ are extensively developed to provide assistance pertaining to the information on misuse of Sec. 498A IPC. The Assumption of the Law that in a given marital dispute, domestic violence happens only to a wife in unfair and in violation of the basic principles of justice. In a typical situation, a wife could act cruel to her husband physically, mentally or by her anti-social behavior. As in most Indian families, the husband’s parents, unmarried sisters and brothers, married brothers and their wives and children also live with him, so the wife can be cruel to them. In such circumstances, many husbands and their old parents have committed suicide after being abused by everyone including the police, the courts and the civil authorities. The vast majority of cases where the wife and her aides are guilty of harassment and more go unpunished due to limitations in our laws and social values.

Traditionally, in India, a newly married woman was expected to be quiet and submissive to her husband and his relatives, but principally with his mother, sisters and sisters-in-law, with a clear hierarchy operating among the womenfolk. While in name, a Patriarchy, the Indian family has traditionally been a Matriarchy. This operating hierarchy in joint Indian families used to work as major mental and physical support and helped newcomers the daughter-in-laws or ‘bhahu’ to adjust and provided for their all type comfort at all times. The aim has always been to provide for the needs of all members of the household without exception. However, under pressures of modernity, this norm has fractured and these days the married male get separated from their parents and other siblings early in their married life to establish independently with their wife and children. There may be many reasons for creating such nuclear families but the most prominent ones are the disputes and tensions in between the daughter-in-law, the ‘bhahu’ and rest of family members. In most of such cases, the husbands are compelled to leave their old parents under the enormous pressure, threatening of filing false complaints in police (Dowry Case and Domestic Violence Act) and blackmail by their wives and In-laws.

The modern norm is the Nuclear Family, and it is not unheard of for husband and wife to combine against the husband’s aged parents, to harass them to move out of their own property and to force them to live in temples, dharmshalas, streets, old-age homes or streets. It is seen that Dowry laws are also being misused as tool of harassment and intentionally used against old and sick parents for the purpose of grabbing their property and money.

Moreover, women are now taught not to submit but insist on their rights. An educated urban middle class woman is well aware of her rights when she enters the house of her in-laws or husband after her marriage. She is well aware that just by marring the man, she is entitled the legal rights in property of her in-laws or husband and part of her husband’s salary irrespective of any conditions even if she would not live with them, not behaving properly, having fraudulent marriage, doing mental and physical cruelty against husband and his relatives and not fulfilling her marital duties. It would be unimaginable to know that many newly married brides received heavy alimony amount that could reach up to Rs.50 Lacs for the settlement of marriage disputes and dowry case, so the legal provisions empowered the newly married brides to ask for their rights in the hard earned money and property of husband and in-laws that may have taken years for establishment.

Marriage is a major catalyst of change for women, who are obliged to move to a new home and to adjust to a new family. However, this is inevitable, and in the long history of mankind, it has been done. However, there are some cases of women who insist on clinging to their parents and siblings. The wife could pressure her husband to get separated from in-laws due to lack of her individual space and freedom. The wife may be suffering from Borderline personality disorder, or she could be her parent’s only child, or only daughter who is accustomed of getting extra privileges at her parental home. The wife’s parents could be demanding their “damaad” (son-in-law) to settle with them and become a “Ghar Jawai” which men usually would not prefer. This will usually lead to a rupture between the husband and wife. This is another instance where the woman can turn the facts on their head and make false allegations of harassment for dowry by her husband, his relatives and even his friends.

When two or more people live together, each of them cannot behave as a commander-in-chief. Someone has to yield to the other. In most marriages, husband and wives make sacrifices in order to adjust to each other. However, when both insist on their rights, acting as independent and sovereign countries, clashes are bound to develop. Due to this, even a small disagreement can degenerate into a major quarrel. When their views and ideas don't match, such couples will quarrel on trifling topics. Verbal abuse and a refusal to adjust to each other feeds on itself in a vicious circle, increasing misunderstanding between the couple, so that they come to categorically reject each other's ways and no longer wish to live together.

The modern trend is for the wife and her relatives to pressurize the husband to separate from his parents and live apart in a nuclear family setup. In some cases, this is not acceptable to the husband for good reasons, such as being the only person who really loves and cares for his parents, even if he has other brothers and sisters who could do it, but who are indifferent to his parents for financial and other reasons. In most such cases, when the husband refuses the wish of wife and in-laws, the wife begins to sulk, abuse his parents physically and verbally and even desert him.

But the Law has handed a new weapon in the hands of such a woman who refuses to adjust and who insists on her own way. She can merely walk into the nearest police station and register a complaint against the husband and his relatives for harassing her for dowry. The Law, as amended progressively since 1983, presumes the culpability of the accused and compels the police to blindly arrest the persons named as accused, regardless of their age and ability to move and cause harm, so that from bedridden elders to babies-in-arms are mercilessly hauled off to prison. The husband and his family members get a great shock after knowing their offence to realize the wife’s ill-designs until the police wake them up from sleep one morning. It is seen that police arrest on a day before government holidays or on Friday to elongate the arrest period.

Thereafter, for several years often extending to decades, they are compelled to defend themselves against the charges, while the woman who made the complaint has to do nothing to prove her claims. The Law places the burden of proving the innocence on the accused, casting into the garbage can the basic and fundamental legal principle that a person is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty!