(Guest)

Lucknow, February 6 A 30-year-old man, Pushkar Singh, committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his home in Jankipuram area of Vikas Nagar, on Wednesday. In a suicide note, addressed to the Allahabad High Court, Singh alleges that he was framed in a dowry case by his wife Vinita and her relatives, due to which he had to spend time in judicial custody for four months. The Vikas Nagar police registered a case later in the day. "During the investigation, if we find it necessary to question Vinita, we will definitely record her statement," said BP Singh, Station Officer, Vikas Nagar.

Pleading innocence and holding his wife responsible for the extreme step he was taking, Singh's note states: "I was sent to jail after a false dowry case was lodged against me by Vinita and her family, who had demanded Rs 14 lakh as a compensation. Neither my father nor I had seen such a big amount in our lives. We even sold our house to contest the case." According to reports, Singh married Vinita about two years ago and lived in Allahabad since. Early last year, his wife left him and started living with her family. A case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 498 (A) (cruelty by husband or relatives of husband) and 504 (intentional insult) was lodged by Vinita and her relatives before she left him. In the note, Singh wrote he was in the Naini Central Jail from "September 29 to December 24, 2007". Shishupal Singh, Singh's brother-in-law, said he was disturbed ever since he released from jail.

The court case constantly haunted him. "After he was bailed out, he was living with his mother, younger sister and a physically-challenged brother in a rented house in Jankipuram." The family had their own house in Indira Nagar, which was recently sold to meet the legal expenses, he added. "While he searched for a job, he drove a three-wheeler for a living. A few days ago, he received a notice from the court and since then, he stopped stepping out of the house," he said. In the note, Singh further wrote: "I would also like to request Vinita not to harass my family in future. It was my mistake to marry her and I am repenting it by sacrificing my life.

" Every 4 minutes in India an innocent person (who never demanded any dowry or money from the wife/daughter-in-law) including old mothers/pregnant sisters/children are facing false and fabricated Dowry cases and sent behind bars without any evidence (since no evidence is required and 498A is non-bailable). Despite the Law commission and various judges' recommendations to make 498A a bailable offence, our lawmakers have not made any effort to save the innocent people who are being victimized by the abusive women and their families. We must stop this legal terrorism (as termed by the Supreme Court of India) by our radical women organizations that openly advocates and legitimizes adultery by the wife and killing of the unborn child (against the husband's wishes).

(Guest)

KOLKATA, Feb. 10: Married men can't take it anymore. Rising prices, mounting responsibilities and their wives implicating them in dowry cases is driving men to suicide. The latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB 2006), shows that the ratio of married men to married women who committed suicide in 2006 is 5:3. The 2006 report also states that the national ratio of men to women committing suicide is 64:36.

The NCRB report further states that a high pendency was observed in Dowry Prohibition Act (43.6% each) in 2006. A total of 7.8 per cent cases of Cruelty by Husband or Relatives were found false or related to mistake of law.

A 30-year-old man, Pushkar Singh, committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his home in Jankipuram area of Vikas Nagar in Lucknow. In his suicide note, he wrote: "I was sent to jail after a false dowry case was lodged against me by my wife Vinita and her family, who demanded Rs 14 lakh as compensation. Neither my father nor I had seen such a big amount in our lives. We even sold our house to contest the case."

Singh is just one of the several thousand men who committed suicide after being implicated falsely in dowry cases by their wives and in-laws. Save Indian Family Foundation, a countrywide network of support groups for such men and their families, has been fighting for men's rights to be included in the national legal framework for a long time.

"We come across such cases of men who turn suicidal after their wife and in-laws try to extort money from them after filing a false case under IPC 498A, frequently. We do our best to help such people through counselling. But it's the Indian legal framework, which considers the rights of wives, but not that of men, their mothers and sisters, that is at fault," said Mr Srinivas Rao, treasurer, SIFF. He cited a case in which a man from Kalyani attempted suicide after he and his family were falsely implicated under 498A. "Ultimately, we arranged for a settlement between the two parties, in which the man had to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to his wife and in-laws," Mr Rao said.

SIFF says the high ratio of male to female suicides is largely due to domestic cruelty against men. The NCRB report 2006 says that more men in the age group of 30 and 44 years committed suicide than those in other age groups. It was observed that 72.2 per cent of the suicide victims were married while 20.7 per cent were unmarried. The number of married men who committed suicide was 55,452 and number of married women who committed suicide was 29,869 in 2006.

False cases registered under IPC 498A, which is non-bailable, make it difficult for complainants who have genuine cases to get justice. The same NCRB report also states that the proportion of female suicides is more under dowry disputes.

(Guest)

Women go to the police with a complaint (may be false), but the system provides to record that as a criminal complaint and that data adds in to the National Statistics of Crime Against Women. When male goes with a genuine complaint the police at max can record a Non Cognizable offence against the women. That will never reflect in the statistics. Then how will one guage crime against men? Every 100 Suicides in India have 63 Males and 37 Females. Every 100 male suicides have 45 married males, and every 100 women suicides have 25 married Women. Married women suicides have default arrests of the inlaws under presumed dowry death. Married men suicides entitle wife for a 50% share in property. What kind of equality is this?

**Victim** (job) 23 July 2013

My sympathy to all victims of false dowry cases here. While there is no immediate solution to all these cases there are ways to harass inlaws and even their lawyer. Please follow this strategy to make their life miserable ............if we go through hell then everybody goes through hell and this includes their lawyer, their family and friends. File all the false IPC sections against them and see the magic after that. Just like shonee and his team are conducting workshops about all these cases it is well and good that more people get aware of this so by that way when the time comes evertime when false I.P.C. 498a, or 406, or DV is filed then there should be immediate remedy by filing false 506, 383, etc,etc. Bottom line is don't suffer just answer them back the same way they did.

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(Guest)

Men being harassed in false dowry cases

Harassed husbands. This is being talked about in the press quite a lot these days and yesterday there was this rather stark headline: Harassed husbands take to the streets. Quoting from the article:

Draconian laws?
It is being alleged that men are increasingly being implicated in false cases under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, and anti-dowry law (of 498a). These Acts have been criticized because they are not gender neutral. The anti-dowry law is seen to be draconian as that section is “non-bailable, non-compoundable (complaint that can’t be quashed) and cognizable (arrests without investigation or warrants) on a report from a woman or close relative. This has been compared to the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act as it is cognizable. POTA was scrapped.

Much ado about nothing?
However, there are those who believe that much ado is being made about nothing and that these false cases are very few in number…but if this was the case a few years ago, I think the situation has changed now. First let’s take a look at both statistics – those on dowry cases and those on false cases. Please note that these are government statistics and got from reputable websites. However I cannot say with a hundred percent confidence that they are comparable…

Statistics say women at the receiving end where dowry is concerned
It is believed that on an average one Indian woman commits suicide every four hours over a dowry dispute. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics say:

2006: 2,276 female suicides due to dowry disputes, six a day on an average. 7,618 cases were registered under Dowry Death.
2005: 2,305 female suicides in 2005.6,787 cases under Dowry Death.
2004: 2,585 dowry cases were registered across the country and 7,026 were registered under Dowry Death.
One case is registered almost every hour under Dowry Death, which includes suicides as well as murders.

False Cases filed by women against husbands (Official figures):
Under Dowry Deaths:
2004: 365
2005: 312
2006: 297

Under the Dowry Prohibition Act.
2004: 167
2005: 238
2006: 210

The percentages (of false cases as compared to genuine ones) are very low, well below 5 percent.

But there are those who feel that these false cases are the tip of the iceberg. The Save Indian Family Foundation, quotes government data which shows that “134,757 people were arrested under the anti-dowry law but only 5,739 people were convicted.” Well, I don’t think that a lack of conviction in a dowry case necessarily means that the accused is innocent. If it is proved that it is a false case, then it’s a different matter.

Why Indian men kill themselves
The Save Indian Family Foundation has also argued that, as compared with women, nearly twice as many married men in India (up to 52,483) take their own lives – being “unable to withstand verbal, emotional, economic and physical abuse”. Well, while it is true that more men commit suicide than women, the reasons as to why people commit suicide have been well researched which I have written about here.

In India, fewer men kill themselves as compared to those in other countries. For example, in countries like Australia, Canada and the US - about 3-4 men kill themselves as compared to 1 woman! And in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, France, S. Korea and Japan - about 2-3 men kill themselves as compared to one woman. Why more men kill themselves as compared to women is something that psychologists and sociologists have not been able to answer fully, although economic pressure is considered an important factor, assuming that there is no mental illness. The burden of providing for a family and that of success falls on men, and their self-esteem is invariably tied up with worldly success. Women on the other hand tend kill themselves more often because of abuse. Overall, people kill themselves for very complex societal and psychological reasons, again assuming the absence of mental illness.

Interestingly, there is research which indicates that more women attempt suicide as compared to men.

Why women (possibly) make false cases against innocent husbands
It could be a way to get the best deal during divorce or simply arm-twist their man to toe the line. A false case is usually registered when the couple is unhappy and the wife uses the dowry law to get back against her husband and in-laws if she believes that they have ill-treated her. I personally know one case like this, that of a relative of a friend, and this is perhaps why I believe that such cases (falsely implicating husbands) are becoming common. This woman was in a bad marriage where her in-laws would interfere with everything she did, and her husband was supporting them, not her. She wanted a divorce but her husband refused. She, an educated professional, threatened her husband, telling him that he better let her go or she would file a dowry case against him. She got her way…so yes, the dowry act is being used as a blackmail tool by some women.

We cannot deny the fact that women have less power in Indian society, and unfortunately, the dowry act has become a weapon…

Those who trump up cases need to be penalised
De-criminalizing the taking of dowry cannot be the solution (a demand from mens groups), not when over 95 percent of dowry cases are genuine and murder is involved. Womens organisations are against diluting the law and Brinda Karat, AIDWA president has said:

It’s taken decades for women to pluck up the courage to use these laws and now they want to dilute them…there may well be a few cases of abuse. But dowry-related violence is so horrific that these laws are life-savers for women and it would be disastrous to dilute them. Dowry-hungry men will think they can get away with murder, literally…

However, stringent punishment for those filing a false case is required. As of now, there is no penalty for filing a false case. False cases bring disrepute to the law itself.

Men are fighting back
Womens groups are reluctant to compromise, but mens groups aren’t taking it lying down. They are trying to pressurise the government to change the dowry laws and the demonstration on the streets is just an example. Today there are about 60 websites dedicated to “promoting the well-being of men in India.

But at any given time we need to remember that women who suffer from dowry -related harassment are often not empowered. Less than half of the women in India can read or write, compared with 75% of men. In the past 20 years more than 10 million female foetuses have been aborted…we need to keep this in mind before the anti-dowry law is changed.

Adv k . mahesh (advocate) 23 July 2013

how much strain you had taken to give such articles for the forum and the persons who really need confidence

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(Guest)

Thank you mahesh sir,It's wonderful to get applaud from esteemed lawyers.

In my view every victim needs help just like I need help.So,for any legal battle every accused should be well verged with his own cases to protect himself from the Injustice of the laws.

(Guest)

mr. sufferer ..tum logo ko divorce kaise lena hain iski advice de rahe ho kya..frud karne ki...koi bhi lladki wala apni ladki nahi dega agar tum ye sab karoge...yani tum pahle he taiyari kiye ho ki kaise bina kuch diye divorce mil jaye...tum ye kyu bhul rahe ho 100% in cases me 10% mae suffer kar rahe hain to 90% female hain...or jo kisi ki jindgi se khelta hain..use saza jarur milti hain...

jab tum male ko advice kar rahe ho to female advice bhi do..ye roz jo dowry case me female koi maar de jati..koi suicide kar leti hain..kisi ko ghar se nikal dete hai..koi nri shadi karta hain..or bhag jata hain...koi jala de jati hain..jab kidar jati hain tumhari ye sufferer...

(Guest)

@ Dear victim,

I agree with you, the awareness is the best way to protect oneself from these false cases.

Let each nook and corner of the india know about this gender biased law and remedies to fight back with more powerful intentions in ones eyes.

(Guest)

@ Dear Victim,

I agree with your views.Awareness is the best remedies to fight back with these false cases with more powerful intensions in ones eyes.

May every nook and corner of India know about these gender biased law and how to come out from these false cases when our own govt. is not looking mens in fairer means.

(Guest)

Dear Roma jii,

I appreciate your views here,As per your allegations and questions I have the following takes:

1. Dear Roma jee you are misguided by your own statistical informations as 98% of dowry cases in India are falsely implicated and rest 2% are genuine.When these false cases had begun to create hype in indian innocent society then our apex court i.e SC even called these cases as legal terrorism of india in 2008.

2. Even Iam victim of fraud marriage and false cases. I can understand the pain of real sufferer.So,If you comes under 2% of female in 1.2 billion population of india.Then here everybody is ready to help you.

3. Iam not the judge who will grant decree of divorce to victims or who desperately need divorce yet i have done that too also but yes I can bet here that freedom can't be supressed by even god as every body needs peace and his happy life.If somebody is suffering from the evil of socetiy of bad marriage then why to implicate them in false cases,so that one couldn't go out.Shame on the ladies jo khud toh acche se jeena chahti hai nai dusre ko bhi nai jeene deti.

4. Agar bechare male aapna raasta nai banayeinge in aatayachar ektarfa kanoon se toh kya aap aayogi humme bachane….

5. Madam aurat se jyada takleef mard ko hoti hai jab aapne dhoke dete hai pad wo toh mard hai Kuch bolte nai…

6. Lastly Ek logical question aapke liye agar sarkar sara kannon mard k liye bana de jaise example k liye lijiye---kal bharat sarkar ka elaan ab se 498a ki jagah 498m ,PWADV act2005 ki jagah PMADV act 2013 ur 24,25,125crpc,406 streedhan ki jagah marddhan sirf aur sirf mardon k liye ho jaye toh aap kya kijiyega?

PLZ madam aapko mere 6 no. question ka answer jaroor dena hoga !

Meri sufferer kahin nai jaati madam,Kabhi toh aapne aurat pan se bahar nikaliye aur dekhiye kya mard nai jhel rahe is duniya me.

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(Guest)

Roma mam still awaiting for your answer !

**Victim** (job) 27 July 2013

Originally posted by : Sufferer
	@ Dear Victim, I agree with your views.Awareness is the best remedies to fight back with these false cases with more powerful intensions in ones eyes. May every nook and corner of India know about these gender biased law and how to come out from these false cases when our own govt. is not looking mens in fairer means.

Hey mate 498a,cprc 125, DV, 406,506 all these cases changed my life. I must admit that ever since i went through all these cases i got stronger day by day. As you can see there are millions of victims just like me and you and most of them do not have knowledge or in other words they come into legal pressure right away and then they go for settlement easily. Trust me it brings me a lot of pressure when i help someone with whatever i could. Atleast we are lucky that we have this platform to seek legal advise. Before 10-15 years there was no lawyerclubindia ......jst imagine what would have happened to other victims.

(Guest)

@ ^ Victim,

Yes it's true that LCI has given platform to each victim of India who is harassed by his wife and in laws to come forward and ask querry related to their situations and cases. The lawyers,experts and victims are so helpful here that they won't let anybody to be trapped in false cases and sufferings.

A many many thanks to all LCI members who had supported each victims without any interest or any lust, they simply done a gr8 job and still doing......

Thanks & regards,

A sufferer.....