Anti-dowry laws in India and the Domestic Violence Law have been brought into effect to decrease the atrocities on women in India which have been there since ages. However, these laws have several loopholes in them. Anti-dowry law or the Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code suggests that the people who harass their wives for dowry should be severely punished. It also has provisions that the woman or her family members can report such harassment to the nearest police station and the husband and or his family will be apprehended. The woman does not have to prove that she has been harassed or beaten up. The police will arrest all the named family members of the husband along with him and start an investigation and will file a charge-sheet in the court of law for judicial proceedings. Harassing the wife for dowry is a cognizable offence and falls under criminal category hence liable to arrest.
In the Domestic Violence Act which was introduced in October 2006, the woman or any of her family members can complain about physical abuse of the woman by her in-laws not necessarily for dowry. The woman is provided protection and also shelter. The husband and his family need to pay maintenance to the wife during the litigation and may be later too.
Both the laws have been framed to protect the women of India. The irony is that these laws are unknown to the women who actually need them. Women who are illiterate and who live in villages do not know anything about laws. They are so suppressed that they do not have the audacity to report any such incident. The National Commission for Women in India has not been able to make the women of interior India aware of these laws. On the other hand, the urban women have got a chance to misuse these laws. They know that the husband will have to pay alimony and maintenance and will have to provide shelter. The urban woman has started filing false complaints against the husband and his family to extort money from them. More and more cases have been coming up showing the sheer misuse of these laws. Today the families of the women are on top and they can take any drastic step to harass the husband’s families. The cause of this misuse is sadistic pleasure and the criminal mentality of grabbing properties.
There are a lot of organizations which have come up voicing the misuse of women centric laws and they have pointed out that the men are getting victimized for no reason. Men are loosing their jobs because of law suits initiated by their wives. They are loosing mental peace and above all, families are breaking.
It is easy to break a marriage but it is hard to maintain one. The Indian society is going to suffer a lot because of these biased laws. If you are a man, you never know what will happen to you after marriage. You might land up behind the bars for no reason. This fear is brewing among the young generation boys and they are not readily willing to get married.
The 498A and the Domestic Violence Act need to be amended and made gender neutral, not woman oriented. The law should be equal for all. If we do not take any step to amend these laws, very soon we will have a marriage less society which eventually is going to lead to a revolution. It is a request to the politicians not to pass laws just to gain a vote bank. They should remember that these laws can back fire on them too.
Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/
In the Domestic Violence Act which was introduced in October 2006, the woman or any of her family members can complain about physical abuse of the woman by her in-laws not necessarily for dowry. The woman is provided protection and also shelter. The husband and his family need to pay maintenance to the wife during the litigation and may be later too.
Both the laws have been framed to protect the women of India. The irony is that these laws are unknown to the women who actually need them. Women who are illiterate and who live in villages do not know anything about laws. They are so suppressed that they do not have the audacity to report any such incident. The National Commission for Women in India has not been able to make the women of interior India aware of these laws. On the other hand, the urban women have got a chance to misuse these laws. They know that the husband will have to pay alimony and maintenance and will have to provide shelter. The urban woman has started filing false complaints against the husband and his family to extort money from them. More and more cases have been coming up showing the sheer misuse of these laws. Today the families of the women are on top and they can take any drastic step to harass the husband’s families. The cause of this misuse is sadistic pleasure and the criminal mentality of grabbing properties.
There are a lot of organizations which have come up voicing the misuse of women centric laws and they have pointed out that the men are getting victimized for no reason. Men are loosing their jobs because of law suits initiated by their wives. They are loosing mental peace and above all, families are breaking.
It is easy to break a marriage but it is hard to maintain one. The Indian society is going to suffer a lot because of these biased laws. If you are a man, you never know what will happen to you after marriage. You might land up behind the bars for no reason. This fear is brewing among the young generation boys and they are not readily willing to get married.
The 498A and the Domestic Violence Act need to be amended and made gender neutral, not woman oriented. The law should be equal for all. If we do not take any step to amend these laws, very soon we will have a marriage less society which eventually is going to lead to a revolution. It is a request to the politicians not to pass laws just to gain a vote bank. They should remember that these laws can back fire on them too.
Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/
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