• 11 21 24
• vedika chaubey
• Blogs

“THE UNTOLD STORY OF MALE VICTIMS”

“Dowry Trap – A weapon or a shield? To consolidate the already passed laws in certain different states, The Dowry Prohibition act, 1961 was enacted. Notwithstanding the fact that the system of dowry still prevails in its full form in many parts of our country, the courts have also witnessed false dowry cases which have rather become a trend to dominate over husbands and their family and to make them submit to unreasonable demands. A false case not only adds to mental harassment but also media trial and social embarrassment.

It amounts to losing self-respect and pride which is difficult to regain even after successful acquittal. The worst thing in these laws is that you can implicate the entire family, from old-age parents, sisters, brothers to children. There’s another pattern which is now emerging in cases of 498A, which deals with cruelty and there 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.

In one of the cases, a 31-year-old person was made victim of section 377. He was married since 12 years and he wanted to file for divorce but his wife was not ready for it. Suddenly, one day he came to know that a case been registered against him under section 498A and 377 of IPC. Fearing of getting arrested, he had to stay out of home without mobile phone for nearly a week till he was allowed interim protection from the court. Such cases are demoralizing men’s inner confidence to get into the sacred relationship of marriage.   

What should you do when a false dowry case is registered against you?

You can follow the route of defense. You have the following options for defense: 

(1)    Collect Evidence

      (a) Keep a record of all conversations where you are being threatened of a false dowry       case. 

       (b) Collect evidence to prove that you have neither taken any dowry nor demanded it.

     (c) Collect evidence to prove her unreasonable decision of moving out and filing false     cases.

       (d) Lodge a complaint about being blackmailed and threatened with false allegations.

      (e) Show the collected evidence regarding blackmailing to the police and request them to    take necessary action.

     (f) Apply for Anticipatory Bail when there is an apprehension of an FIR being lodged       against your and/or your family member. 

      (g) Consult a lawyer and file RCR (Restitution of Conjugal Rights) in case your wife leaves her matrimonial house after all the blackmailing and threatening.

     (h) Police may not easily write down the complaints of men. Also, how the complaint is   drafted is critical. Consulting an experienced lawyer in such matters is a good idea.

      (i) In cases of compromise and settlement, make sure not to give or promise any money.   By doing this, you indirectly accept that you have taken dowry. This could encourage         more fraudulent women to indulge in false complaints about the sake of making money.

     (j) If at all you are required to pay money, seek help from a good lawyer and make the    payment only after the Court orders you to do so. Get agreed-upon settlement conditions   written and signed by both the parties and their respective families.

      (k) Fight for your rights and raise your voice against the undue harassment that men have to face because of the misuse and abuse of dowry laws.

   (l) Write letters to media, human rights institutions and organizations, share your   grievances on social media forums explaining the misuse of Section 498A. This will not   ensure your absolute legal protection but it is a fundamental step to be able to generate   awareness among the masses.

       (2)    Safeguard your family

 Under section 498A, the parents of the husbands are not immune. In such a situation the husband can take the following steps to safeguard his family:-

 (3)    Limitations of this move

 (i)     Decide the terms of the settlement in writing

 (ii)    Raise your voice against the issue of false complaints

(4) Other steps which can be taken:-

 (i) Counter Attack is the best defense, in most the cases it has been seen that the charges against the husband and his family may be fabricated and the jewelry bills submitted will be false. Go back to your financial statements and make a detailed list of items exchanged as gifts, the monetary transactions that occurred in Cash / Bank and keep it handy. 

(ii) File an RTI and get the bills the complainant has attached to support her claims. Tally them with the statements and list you have prepared to understand how far the claims are true. Also, check your wardrobes/lockers to ensure if you have them or not. Sometimes the ornaments may belong to your wife who would have left them in the home or purchases were made either by you or her own salary. Such purchases are not termed as dowry.

(iii) If you happen to discover based on your homework that the bills are false, file a Sales Tax evasion petition with the Trade & Tax department. Chances are the jeweler will be subjected to inquiry and don’t be surprised he too will face the brunt of conspiring in this case. 

Furthermore, continue the attack. You can file a case of submitting false documents to the court under section 156. Not limiting here you can also file multiple cases invoking various section of IPC like 120B (Criminal Conspiracy), 191 (False Evidence), 197 (False certificate), 499/500 (Defamation), 420 (Cheating), Section 9 of CPC for damage recovery, etc.

Whom to contact?

Deepika Bhardwaj has been described as ‘the woman fighting for men’s rights’. The Delhi-based journalist and filmmaker have written extensively on what she calls ‘gender biased laws’ in India and the effect of their misuse.“There have been umpteen numbers of suicides by men owing to false cases under 498A. Mere threats of this law have driven men to suicide because they think that a suicide will save their family members from the ordeal. There is no statistical recording of such cases but the number is overwhelming.” 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.

The Supreme Court, in a recent judgment, declared that cruel men don’t deserve relief. The summary of the case is as follows:-

Husband had a good cause for relief but anticipatory bail to husband was denied. According to him the accusations were a response to his police complaint about nude photographs shared by his wife to another man. The wife shared 100 of nudes to other men when she was in a close relationship with her husband. The bench said you can divorce her if you want but arrested the husband for the time being.

Another case of bail declined to husband, wife made 300 tiktok videos which were obscene. The chief justice said you can divorce her if you could not get along; there is no need for cruelty.

I was blamed, I was shamed and I was victimized - but for what?”  While women claim their families are coerced to send more money and gifts even after paying a large sum of dowry at the time of marriage, men claim that women extort money by lodging fake cases against them and their families. In short, both marriage and divorce come with a hefty price tag.

The law made to save lives has also taken many lives. Such laws are gender-biased laws. There has to be a balance of laws, whether woman laws or men laws should not be a concern. In the world of humans where humanity doesn’t exist, we need to stand equal for human rights. Our laws need to be more stringent in favor of both, i.e. human rights as one. “Definitely woman empowerment should be valued but that should not degrade the respect of manpower.”

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