Ever since Bengaluru-based techie Atul Subhash died by suicide last year, leaving behind a video message blaming his wife and their ongoing divorce case for his death, there has been much debate in India on whether the country’s gender specific laws, like the one on domestic violence, “discriminate” against men. Men’s rights groups, in particular, have been spearheading the demand for “gender neutral laws.”
The reality, however, as legal experts and women’s rights activists point out is quite different.
The issue of domestic violence needs to be understood in the backdrop of India’s deeply patriarchal social structure, where domestic violence is not just normalized in marriages, it is trivialized. Far from being considered a crime, domestic violence is a socially taboo topic. Conservative family elders fear that addressing it by holding the male member accountable, could disrupt the traditional family set up.
So the majority of women who face violence within the confines of their homes do not even report it.
One of the laws that have raised the hackles of men’s rights groups is the section in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 498 A, which states that “cruelty by a husband or the relative of a husband of a woman” is punishable as a criminal offence. Section 85 in the recently codified criminal laws, the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita, and is a non-bailable offence i.e., the husband and the in-laws of the woman victim are not entitled to get bail when arrested. If convicted, the penalty is a three-year jail term and a fine.
Men’s groups deem this unfair. Politicians like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Dinesh Sharma even alleged that men were being unfairly targeted and raised the issue in Parliament, where he called for “gender neutral laws” on domestic violence.
Outrightly rejecting the view that such laws should be gender neutral, senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Geeta Luthra pointed out that “by definition, these legislations are aimed at affirmative action for women and to help bring about equalization of the genders and to help women who are undeniably discriminated and victimized by men.” Just as there is reservation of seats or affirmative action for marginalized groups like the Scheduled Castes, there is a need for positive laws that favor women, Luthra told The Diplomat.
Acknowledging the fact that there have been instances of “misuse” of the law by women to frame men in false cases, Luthra says courts need to impose a penalty in such cases to act as a deterrent.
Recognizing the distressing condition of women who face physical violence and are even thrown out of their marital homes, the Law on Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (PWDVA) was enacted in 2005. This legislation is aimed at protecting women in domestic relationships from violence, be it physical, verbal, emotional or sexual, by granting them some form of relief.
Statistical data provides insights into the ground reality. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in the 2017-2022 period, only 3.4 percent suicides of men were caused by “marriage-related” problems. Contrary to popular perception, the biggest cause of men dying by suicide during that period (30.8 per cent) was due to “family problems (not related to marriage).” And to decisively end all speculation, there is no category in the NCRB data that records suicide due to false domestic violence cases.
In fact, more women (25,197) than men (21,579) have died by suicide due to marriage-related issues between 2017 and 2022. Shockingly, 52.5 per cent of all female suicide victims in India in 2022 were housewives.
The other major factor that is intricately linked with domestic violence is the demand for dowry by men and their families, which when not met, unleashes a cycle of torture and violence on the woman. This tragically even leads to death or what is categorized as murder due to dowry demand, an offence under 304-B of the IPC.
As per the NCRB, in 2022, 6,450 murders due to dowry occurred in India.
Jayashree Velankar, director of Jagori, a New Delhi-based women’s rights organization, trashed the notion of laws discriminating against men. “As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, every third woman in the age group of 15 to 45 years admitted to having faced domestic violence once in her life. And this is just the tip of the iceberg,” she told The Diplomat. Underscoring the wide prevalence of dowry-related domestic violence, Velankar pointed out that it was to prevent the rampant incidence of dowry deaths of new brides and dowry harassment that section 498 A of the IPC, (cruelty inflicted on a married woman by her husband), was deemed as a criminal offence way back in 1983.
Incidentally, the majority of women who face violence from their husbands, never report or tell anyone about it; so there is gross under-reporting of cases.
Reacting to recent reports of false cases of domestic violence, Velankar says, there are instances of misuse of the domestic violence law just as there is misuse with every other law. Moreover, the number of genuine cases of domestic violence far outnumber the false cases; therefore, this provision is necessary to help women in distress, she said.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court slammed the casual attitude of the criminal justice system to dealing with dowry death cases. Alarmed at how dowry deaths persist in this day and age, the court pointed out that “the offence strikes at the very root of social justice and equality.” The apex court warned that bail to alleged offenders in such crimes should be given only after deep scrutiny.
Again, statistics show that dowry as a custom is still practiced widely; among urban upper middle-class families, dowry is termed as “gifting.” As per the NCRB, 13,479 cases were registered in 2022 under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Being a patriarchal society, men are “valued” higher than women in India. It is with the aim of correcting this grave gender imbalance that the Indian Constitution empowered the state to adopt measures to render equality and justice to women.
