• 11 23 24
• vedika chaubey
• Blogs

DIVORCE- A TREND AND A WEAPON IN INDIA

DIVORCE- A TREND AND A WEAPON IN INDIA

Complying with society’s traditional perception, marriage is an everlasting holy bond between two people - something that should withstand every contradiction, differences, fights and intolerable problem between wife and the husband. A family is a sacred bonding of the two through marriage. However, today families are experiencing unprecedented change and are coping with a variety of problems, both old and new. Accompanying industrialization and urbanization, technology is frequently identified as making daily life more complex and impersonal.

Cultural shift:

India is witnessing a steady change in the value systems that influence marriage, personal development and family relationships over the few decades. Gender roles have obscured, traditional values are being questioned and even traditional definitions and conceptualizations of ‘family’ have changed due to the sudden drift in society. With the figure of Indian women undergoing this cultural shift and “breaking the glass ceiling” as they say, the stigma attached to ‘divorce’ is rubbed off as India witnesses an increasing trend of divorce in the past 40 years.

In Hindu religion, marriage is a sacrament and not a contract; hence divorce was not recognized before the codification of the Hindu Marriage Act in 1955. Men and women both are equally eligible to seek divorce with the codification of this law. Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Christians are governed by The Divorce Act 1869, Parsis by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936, Muslims by the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 and Inter-religious marriages are governed by The Special Marriage Act 1954. These laws lay down condition to perform a marriage between a man and a woman. Based on these a marriage is validated, if not it is termed as void marriage or voidable marriage at the option of either of the spouse. Hereupon, filing a petition by either spouse before the Court of law a decree of nullity is passed declaring the marriage as null and void.

Misuse of Law:

Irrespective of how widespread this cause of divorce exists, the fact that it exists in the first place is both unsurprising and disturbing. India has witnessed rise in the misuse of Indian law, the IPC (Indian Penal Code) 498-A. In most of the cases, this is where Indian women are using the law in their favour to divorce easily by approaching the police, media or women’s support group and filing a complaint against the husband and in-laws. To exit marriages with a divorce in their favour, false cases of abuse, Harassment, Domestic Violence and dowry demands are often used by women and their families.

What is Section 498A?

In 1983, Section 498-A of the IPC was introduced - if a husband or relative of husband of a woman subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. The offense under Section 498A is cognizable, non-compoundable and non-bailable.

The main reason for rise in 498A cases is because if housewives have an identity crisis in their marriage and if a man says something and scorns her, she might get offended. Over time, their ideologies may change, romance may wither, eventually becoming more prone to misunderstandings and creating a fuss out of every issue. Asking for a divorce might not be acceptable if the man has not done anything and the only way the wife can save her face is to slap the 498A charge.

"A total of 63,343 married men committed suicide in 2012, with a fair amount of them having faced domestic problems," says Amit Gupta of Hridaya in an interview online, a men's rights organization. While filing a complaint, women tend to secure the power of non-bailable arrests thereby ensuring that the entire family goes to jail. There are instances of individuals who have lost all hope due to the public shame and humility they and their families have had to go through resulting in suicide.

Many times females may misunderstood an accidental brush of the shoulder as eve-teasing and some may go as far as purposely scaring a man that if he doesn’t pay the money she will take him to jail regarding the same. Under the Marriage Amendment Act (2000) the husband must pay maintenance charges to the wife during the process of their divorce. To get higher amount as maintenance, even highly educated women tend to hide that they are currently employed in order to demand maintenance. If not provided then the husband can face serious criminal indictment.

In case of Divorce, the society acknowledges only one side of the narrative and is quick to judge the male partner. The laws favour women to a great extent, so a revengeful woman in India only needs to file a Dowry or Domestic Violence case, an FIR or a rape case against the husband's family and the onus lies in the hands of the man and the family to prove it wrong. They are declared guilty in the face of society without having a moment to catch a breath and explain their side of the story. There is no statute of limitations for filing a complaint of cruelty between a married wife, so even after 20 years of marriage; a wife can file a case of cruelty on her husband and family. As this may seem to be a women-friendly provision, it is too friendly sometimes. It is not necessary for the wife to provide proof of giving dowry or cruelty and the husband has no means of proving his innocence, he is deemed guilty without a trial or hearing. A system which was amended to protect and provide for women has become prone to be a battleground for revenge.

Today most young married couples have stopped valuing marriages and that too for petty reasons, their married life fall apart. Sometimes, after listening the reasons behind the divorce I feel that “if this could be the reason then I would have taken divorce almost each single day”. But the young generations have their own view and their own style of living. The choice of partner selection has broadened. Besides, normalization of the financially independent “working wife” has contributed to more awareness and ego clashes in marriages. If we say that the men and women are equal and they are earning equal salary too then why not sharing house work equally too and this too has become major issues for getting Divorce. Not only this, professional rivalry between the partners has also become a rising cause of Divorce.

The other reasons for divorce are lack of compatibility, sluggish sex life between the two, lack of communication, external marital affairs, problems with in-laws, sham marriages and the main topic of discussion- misuse of the law. Apart from these reasons, the Divorce has become a trend in youngsters. The Bollywood has been serving the trend with all in and out. The latest trend of getting Divorce and being friend for life is very much in fashion. I am sorry to call this as Fashion but this can be observed and witnessed when a husband comes and approach me saying, “madam aisa koi problem toh nahi hai lekin hum dono ne socha ki ek sath rehne se acha Divorce leke friend banke rahe lifetime Hritik Roshan ke jaisa. Life me koi tension hi nahi.” This is when I feel that this young generation needs to have patience and needs someone who can tell them the future consequences for such behaviour and thinking.

Lastly, the trend has caught up pace in the middle class households by drawing a large influence from the upper class and the western world. As much as financial independence of women is essential, a healthy bond with no professional rivalry is crucial. Self-reflection and heavy counseling can be the solution to fights in marriages, not an impulsive divorce, unless it’s unbearable to be sustained.

(Advocate Vedika Chaubey can be reached at vedikachaubey@gmail.com)