By Dr. Sailaja Petikam
In India where marriage is the union between man and woman to get social status in the society and marriage is nothing but procreation and caring of the child. According to Westmark, marriage has been often like an institution made by itself. As there is increase in number of marriages every day, at the same time breakdown of marriages in the society has also been seen to be increasing whether by fault of husband or wife. Though cases are filed by wife against husband and in-laws under Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and 498-A of IPC to claim maintenance and divorce, all complaints are not filed bona-fidely. Freedoms of education, job opportunities, economic independence and social attitude have brought tremendous change in the status of women. The balance of scale has tilted reversely in favour of women.
Cruelty is an inhuman treatment and it is an act that causes mental sufferings and endangers the life and health of the other. Cruelty may be in the form of physical as well as mental by the act either of the husband or the wife. Though it is the women who have always been subjected to be tortured and harassed by the husband and relatives, in fact saying this will not be proper as cases of torture and harassment against the husband by the wife is increasing day by day. Cruelty is the main ground to seek divorce as defined under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the party who is filing a case must prove that living between husband and wife became impossible.
There are many provisions made applicable for the protection of women, which have got recognition from our constitutional law. The biased nature of these laws is evident from that fact that unlike almost all laws in India the burden to prove innocence lies on the accused and this means as soon as the complaint is made by the aggrieved person/wife, the result is that the husband and his family may be immediately arrested and will be considered as accused in the eyes of law. According to Section 498-A of the IPC, the wife and her parental family can charge any or all of the husband’s family of physical or mental cruelty but genuineness of the case has to be looked into by the court as this section is cognizable, non-compoundable and non-bailable in nature.
WHAT AMOUNTS TO CRUELTY AGAINST HUSBAND
Though it is the duty of the court to decide the case based on facts and circumstances, what amounts to cruelty is an important aspect as misuse of laws by the wife against husband in society is growing day by day and most apparently some Indian urban educated women have turned the tables and are using these laws as weapon to unleash personal vendetta on their husbands and innocent relatives and there are certain grounds on which cruelty against husband can be proved:
- Misuse of Dowry Laws, Domestic Violence Act and Section 498-A of IPC by wife against husband and in-laws of husband through lodging false complaints.
- Desertion by wife which means wife deliberately intending for separation and to bring cohabitation permanently to an end.
- Adultery by the wife means wife having sexual relationship with some other person during the lifetime of marriage and there must be strict law to punish wife who has committed adultery.
- Wife opting out for second marriage without applying for the divorce proceedings.
- Threatening to leave husband’s home and threat to commit suicide by the wife.
- Cruel behavior of wife where wife tears the shirt of the husband, refuses to cook food properly or on time and breaks the mangalsutra in the presence of husband’s relatives.
- Abusing and accusing husband by way of insulting in the presence of in-laws and in some cases wife abusing husband in front of office staff members.
- Wife refusing to have sex with husband without any sufficient reasons which can be considered as a ground of cruelty and husband can file a divorce petition.
- Lowering reputation of the husband by using derogatory words in the presence of family members and elders.
- Lodging FIR against husband and in-laws which is later proved as false report.
- Conduct and misbehavior of the wife against husband, i.e. pressuring husband to leave his home, insisting for separate residence, mentally torturing and disrespectful behavior towards husband and in-laws as well.
- Some other grounds of cruelty, i.e. mental disorder and unsoundness of wife, impotency of wife, illicit relationship of wife with some other person and wife suffering from filariasis.
- Extra-marital affairs of wife can also be a ground of cruelty against the husband.
- Initiating criminal proceedings against husband and in-laws of husband with mala-fide intention by the wife.
JUDICIAL PERSPECTIVE
Situations in Hindu marriage where a wife was held as cruel to the husband and the Hindu divorce law was applied by the Supreme Court:
Mrs. Deepalakshmi Saehia Zingade v. Sachi Rameshrao Zingade (AIR 2010 Bom 16). In this case petitioner/wife filed a false case against her husband on the ground of “Husband Having Girl Friend”, which was proved false in a court of law, so it can be considered as cruelty against husband.
Anil Bharadwaj v. Nimlesh Bharadwaj (AIR 1987 Del 111). According to this case, a wife who refuses to have sexual intercourse with the husband without giving any reason was proved as sufficient ground which amounts to cruelty against husband.
Kalpana v. Surendranath (AIR 1985 All 253). According to this case it has been observed that where a wife refuses to prepare tea for the husband’s friends, she was declared by the court as cruel to the husband.
CONCERNS OF MEN
- A hoax being perpetrated behind these amendments to Marriage Laws is that poor and destitute women are left without home and property after divorce. Has the government conducted a single survey on the topic of the social and economic status of the couples who file for divorce? If it was done, it will be known publicly that divorce in India is predominantly a middle and upper class phenomenon, and 80-85% of divorces are initiated by women.
- There are already provisions in Hindu Marriage Act Section 27 wherein the property jointly acquired after marriage can be disposed off by the courts between the divorcing couple. So it is inexplicable as to what need was there to put additional provisions in Hindu Marriage Act that the courts would now need to decide on women’s share in the matrimonial property at the time of divorce, to which they have contributed during the marriage. Such provisions are already covered under both HMA as well as under Transfer of Property Act.
- The government has ignored the most damning evidence that the suicide rates of married men have been consistently increasing since last 10 years whereas the suicide rate for married women has stayed the same.
- The government prefers to keep its eyes closed to the fact that a lot of cases filed against men in matrimonial matters including under IPC 498-A, DV Act, maintenance laws contain false allegations by wives, solely to extract leverage and advantage in property and financial settlement. At the end of long trial, the courts simply pronounce the judgment that there was no evidence found to support wives’ allegations.
- Ignoring men’s extended family’s responsibilities: married men of working age are expected to undertake financial obligations of the whole family which in Indian context means their parents and even dependent brothers and sisters. But the proposed amendments ignore the rights of husband’s parents and siblings and are solely concerned with giving property rights to women at time of divorce irrespective of duration of marriage.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF INDIAN LEGISLATIONS
However India is unique in its approach in formulating laws ignoring the equality of sexes granted under the Constitution. A few examples are:
- In most countries including Pakistan, domestic violence complaints can be filed by either partner. In India, under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA 2005), domestic violence is considered to be solely perpetrated by married men (and their relatives) over the hapless wives!
- In most countries, matrimonial property sharing at time of divorce results in equitable sharing of both assets and liabilities earned by both spouses during the marriage duration. However in India, the proposed bill aims to give property rights to women only at time of divorce. Even if a woman has more property than husband, the law will probably allow woman to lay claim over man’s property. The duration of marriage, be it 1 day or 20 years, is of no concern, and the property sharing is left to discretion of the courts.
- Sexual harassment complaints can be filed by either sex in most countries. However in India, in the recently approved bill by cabinet about Sexual Harassment at Workplace bill, the proposal to include men as complainants has been completely ignored so far in spite of many representations made to government and lawmakers by men’s rights groups.
- Divorce rights and obligations are gender neutral in most countries. But in India, the proposed amendments will allow a wife to block husband’s divorce petition moved on grounds of “Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage” but a husband will not be allowed to do the same if wife moves a divorce petition on same grounds.
- Adultery is a crime which can be committed only by men and not by women under Indian Penal Code (IPC).
ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES
India has probably the dubious distinction of being the only large democratic country where in all above areas the existing or proposed laws give relief only to wives/women and exclude men completely from their ambit except treating them as providers or perpetrators! Is India moving towards 21st century or moving back to 16th century?
The law talks only about wives’ rights and has no mention of their responsibilities as wives. These amendments are in continuation of the trend evident in Hindu Marriage laws which seek to define only obligations of married men and only rights of married women.
The proposed Marriage Laws Amendments, if accepted, will reduce men to status of slavery in marriage. These so called attempts to achieve equality for women are nothing but attempts to create feminocracy in families and ultimately reduce men to second class citizens and create breakdown in society and a fatherless society.
CONCLUSION
Though the amendments introduced in the Penal Code are with the laudable object of eradicating the evil of misused dowry, such provisions cannot be allowed to be misused by the parents and the relatives of a psychopath wife who may have chosen to end her life for reasons which may be many other than cruelty. The glaring reality cannot be ignored that the ugly trend of false implications with a view to harass and blackmail an innocent spouse and his relatives is fast emerging. A strict law needs to be passed by the Parliament for saving the institution of marriage and to punish those women who are trying to misguide the court by filing false reports just to make the life of men miserable and justice should not only be done but manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. Government should create a National Commission for Men to study and take on war-footing the problem of increasing men’s suicides, and promote well-being and welfare of men.