Since the technician based in Bengaluru, Autul Subhash, died by suicide last year, leaving a video message accusing his wife and their case of divorce in progress for his death, there have been many debates in India on the question of whether the laws specific to the gender of the country, like that of domestic violence, “discriminated” against men. The human rights groups, in particular, have directed the request for “neutral laws of the genre”.
The reality, however, as the legal experts and women’s rights are very different.
The question of domestic violence must be understood in the context of the deeply patriarchal social structure of India, where domestic violence is not only standardized in marriages, it is trivialized. Far from being considered a crime, domestic violence is a socially taboo subject. The alumni of the conservative family fear that resolving it by holding the responsible male member, can disrupt the establishment of the traditional family.
Thus, the majority of women who face violence within the limits of their homes do not even report it.
One of the laws that have raised hackles from men’s rights groups is the section of the Indian Criminal Code (IPC) 498 A, which stipulates that “cruelty by a husband or the parent of a husband of a woman” is punishable as a criminal offense. Article 85 In recently codified criminal laws, the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita, and is an underscribed offense, that is to say that the husband and the parents-in-law of the victim of the woman have no right to make a deposit during the arrest. If it is convicted, the sentence is a sentence of three years in prison and a fine.
Groups of men judge it unfair. Politicians like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dinesh Sharma, even allegedly alleged that men were unjustly targeted and raised the question in Parliament, where he called for “neutral laws” on domestic violence.
Rejoining the opinion that these laws should be neutral to sex, the main defender of the Supreme Court, Geeta Luthra stressed that “by definition, these legislation is aimed at positive action for women and to help lead the equalization of the sexes and to help women who are undeniably discriminated and victimized by men.” Just as there is a reservation of seats or positive action for marginalized groups such as planned castes, there is a need for positive laws that promote women, Luthra told diplomat.
Recognizing the fact that there have been cases of “improper use” of the law by women to supervise men in false cases, Luthra says that the courts must impose a penalty in such cases to act as a means of deterrence.
Recognizing the painful state of women who are confronted with physical violence and are even thrown from their marital home, the law on the protection of women against domestic violence (PWDVA) was promulgated in 2005. This legislation aims to protect women in domestic relations against violence, whether physical, verbal, emotional or sexual, by granting them a certain form.
Statistical data gives an overview of the reality of the soil. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), during the period 2017-2022, only 3.4% of men’s suicides were caused by problems “linked to marriage”. Contrary to popular perception, the greatest cause of men dying by suicide during this period (30.8%) was due to “family problems (not linked to marriage)”. And to decisively end all speculation, there is no category in NCRB data which records suicide due to false cases of domestic violence.
In fact, more women (25 197) that men (21,579) died by suicide due to problems related to marriage between 2017 and 2022. Shockingly, 52.5% of all women victims of suicide in India in 2022 were housewives.
The other major factor which is complex linked to domestic violence is the request for dowry by men and their families, which when they are not encountered, triggers a cycle of torture and violence on women. This tragically leads to death or what is classified as murder due to the request for dowry, an offense of 304-B of the IPC.
According to the NCRB, in 2022, 6,450 murders due to the dowry occurred in India.
Jayashree Velankar, director of Jagori, an organization of women’s rights based in New Delhi, ransacked the concept of discriminating laws against men. “According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) -5, each third woman in the age group of 15 to 45 admitted to having been confronted with domestic violence once in his life. And this is only the tip of the iceberg, “she told diplomat. Stressing the large prevalence of domestic violence linked to the dowry, Velankar stressed that it was to prevent the crawling incidence of death to the dowry of new brides and harassment to the dowry that section 498 A of the IPC (cruelty inflicted on a woman married by her husband), was considered a criminal offense in 1983.
By the way, the majority of women who face the violence of their husbands, never report or never talk about it; There is therefore a gross sub-declaration of the cases.
Reacting to recent relationships of false cases of domestic violence, Velankar says, there are cases of abusive use of the law on domestic violence, just as there is improper use with all other laws. In addition, the number of real cases of domestic violence is far more numerous than false cases; Therefore, this provision is necessary to help women in distress, she said.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court criticized the occasional attitude of the criminal justice system in the face of dowry death. Alarmed by the way in which the death of dowry persists today, the court stressed that “the offensive strikes the very root of social justice and equality”. The Apex Court warned that the surety for alleged delinquents in such crimes should only be given after an in -depth examination.
Again, statistics show that the dowry as a custom is still widely practiced; Among the urban families of the upper middle class, the dowry is called “gift”. According to the NCRB, 13,479 cases were recorded in 2022 under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Being a patriarchal company, men are “valued” higher than women in India. It is in order to correct this imbalance between the sexes that the Indian Constitution has enabled the State to adopt measures to make equality and justice to women.