How and why the law is an ass?
2,23,167 husbands committed suicide in 5 years
Loopholes in An act, originally legislated to safeguard women's rights, are being misused by disgruntled wives to put husbands and in-laws in misery, TSI’s Anil Pandey and Vikas kumar Write
Amit Budhiraj, a techie from Bangalore, killed his wife Rinku Sachdeva and then hanged himself. Amit was a software engineer with Infosys Technologies for the last nine years. He had married Rinku Sachdeva who was working in a Mumbai-based multinational bank. Soon after the marriage, Amit came to know about her affair with a colleague of hers. When Amit protested, Rinku threatened him of sending him to jail under Dowry Act 498A. Amit searched over the Internet and came to know about the draconian provisions of the Act. It was amply clear that not only him but also his aged parents would have to spend the rest of their lives behind the bars. Amit decided to kill his wife and himself to save his parents the embarrassment of court proceedings.
A nine-page suicide note was found on the bed in the couple’s house. Amit had described his mental condition in detail. R. P .Chug, an advocate who counsels husbands who are wrongly victimised by this law, tells TSI, “I argue a lot of cases related to Dowry Act 498A. Every month I come to know of one person committing suicide after having been falsely implicated. If misuse of the law is not stopped, the number of such cases will surely rise.” Chug is no male chauvinist and has a long history of fighting for women’s rights and has worked with many women’s rights groups. As per records of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1,87,540 people were arrested under 498A in 2007. Out of these, only 13,247 were found guilty. The data shows that 94 per cent were found to be innocent. NCRB data also points towards a trend of increasing number of suicides in married males in the last decade. Every 19 minutes, a person is murdered whereas every 10 minutes, a husband commits suicide. Between 2005 and 2008, 2,23,167 married males committed suicide. This is double the number of wives committing suicide in the same time period.
An Act, originally meant to empower women, has become a curse for many women too. This view is echoed by Neena Dhulia, chairperson of All India Mother-In-Law Protection Forum, who says, “Due to the loss of social reputation, the entire family suffers. It becomes difficult for them to get their son or daughter married. This leaves a psychological scar on the family. Many close friends and relatives, who see their sufferings from close quarters, do not marry at all. They prefer remaining single for their whole lives. If the trend persists, it will immensely damage the social fabric of the country.” President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil famously said about this Act, “Instances exist whereby protective legal provisions for the benefit of women have been subjected to distortion and misuse to wreak petty vengeance and to settle scores. It is unfortunate if laws meant to protect women get abused as instruments of oppression.” The Supreme Court bench of justices Arijit Pasayat and H.K. Sema had termed this misuse as “legal terrorism”. The Apex Court said, “The role of the investigating agencies and courts is that of a watchdog 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.”
2,23,167 husbands committed suicide in 5 years
Loopholes in An act, originally legislated to safeguard women's rights, are being misused by disgruntled wives to put husbands and in-laws in misery, TSI’s Anil Pandey and Vikas kumar Write
Amit Budhiraj, a techie from Bangalore, killed his wife Rinku Sachdeva and then hanged himself. Amit was a software engineer with Infosys Technologies for the last nine years. He had married Rinku Sachdeva who was working in a Mumbai-based multinational bank. Soon after the marriage, Amit came to know about her affair with a colleague of hers. When Amit protested, Rinku threatened him of sending him to jail under Dowry Act 498A. Amit searched over the Internet and came to know about the draconian provisions of the Act. It was amply clear that not only him but also his aged parents would have to spend the rest of their lives behind the bars. Amit decided to kill his wife and himself to save his parents the embarrassment of court proceedings.
A nine-page suicide note was found on the bed in the couple’s house. Amit had described his mental condition in detail. R. P .Chug, an advocate who counsels husbands who are wrongly victimised by this law, tells TSI, “I argue a lot of cases related to Dowry Act 498A. Every month I come to know of one person committing suicide after having been falsely implicated. If misuse of the law is not stopped, the number of such cases will surely rise.” Chug is no male chauvinist and has a long history of fighting for women’s rights and has worked with many women’s rights groups. As per records of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1,87,540 people were arrested under 498A in 2007. Out of these, only 13,247 were found guilty. The data shows that 94 per cent were found to be innocent. NCRB data also points towards a trend of increasing number of suicides in married males in the last decade. Every 19 minutes, a person is murdered whereas every 10 minutes, a husband commits suicide. Between 2005 and 2008, 2,23,167 married males committed suicide. This is double the number of wives committing suicide in the same time period.
An Act, originally meant to empower women, has become a curse for many women too. This view is echoed by Neena Dhulia, chairperson of All India Mother-In-Law Protection Forum, who says, “Due to the loss of social reputation, the entire family suffers. It becomes difficult for them to get their son or daughter married. This leaves a psychological scar on the family. Many close friends and relatives, who see their sufferings from close quarters, do not marry at all. They prefer remaining single for their whole lives. If the trend persists, it will immensely damage the social fabric of the country.” President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil famously said about this Act, “Instances exist whereby protective legal provisions for the benefit of women have been subjected to distortion and misuse to wreak petty vengeance and to settle scores. It is unfortunate if laws meant to protect women get abused as instruments of oppression.” The Supreme Court bench of justices Arijit Pasayat and H.K. Sema had termed this misuse as “legal terrorism”. The Apex Court said, “The role of the investigating agencies and courts is that of a watchdog 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.”
Read these article :-
