IPC-498a - scarier than a Stephen King novel
Passed by Indian Parliament in 1983, Indian Penal Code 498A, is a criminal law (not a civil law) which is defined as follows,
“Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. The offence is Cognizable, non-compoundable and non-bailable.
Please read the Act 46 of 1983 to understand 498a better.
How are you at risk and why it is dangerous for the society?
Your wife/daughter-in-law who’s demands are not met can make a written false complaint of dowry harassment to a nearby police station. The husband, his old parents and relatives are immediately arrested without sufficient investigation and put behind bars on a non-bailable terms. Even if the complaint is false, you shall be presumed guilty until you prove that you are innocent.
498a can only be invoked by wife/daughter-in-law or her relative. Most cases where Sec 498A is invoked turn out to be false (as repeatedly accepted by High Courts and Supreme Court in India) as they are mere blackmail attempts by the wife (or her close relatives) when faced with a strained marriage. In most cases 498a complaint is followed by the demand of huge amount of money (extortion) to settle the case out of the court. This section is non-bailable(you have to appear in court and get bail from the judge), non-compoundable (complaint can’t be withdrawn) and cognizable (arrests without investigation or warrants). There have been countless instances where, without any investigation, the police has arrested elderly parents, unmarried sisters, pregnant sister-in-laws and even 3 year old children. In these cases unsuspecting family of husband has to go through a lot of mental torture and harassment by the corrupt Indian legal system. A typical case goes on for years (5-7 years is typical) and the conviction rate is about 2% only. Some accused parents, sisters and even husbands have committed suicide after time in jail.
For more details:
http://www.498a.org/
But how did i come to know of this site? My close friend who had gone through hell before he got divorce told me recently. He had been threatened by the girl’s side about this.
I know of a hand full of folks in both genders in my generation who are going through hell in their married life. The folks who should’ve really sought this section’s help are keeping mum citing ‘kudumba gauravam’.
Random Thoughts:
India as a country is witnessing an alarming rise of divorce cases in the recent 5-10 years.
The elders in the family who belong to the previous generation have a role to play in many of these cases in one way or the other. They have this quality of seeing things with a perspective as old as their times. First they apply wrong parameters -horoscope matching, status and some worse fundas, in other words, applying test match strategies in the days of 20-20. Next, they dominate their son’s/daughter’s life even after marriage like touching a ball well outside the off stump – not advisable even in the days of 20-20.
We now have a full generation of people in the cities who are educated, financially on their own and who have constantly been fed images and myths of the opposite sex by the media. But they not know what to realistically expect from their partner because they have never had any proper experience in dealing with a guy or girl before. Not many are getting it right the first time.
What’s next? I do not know. I wish some social scientist conducts a detailed research on what’s happening and suggests what needs to be done here.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:52 am
We need to really modify the law, so that there is some provision for separation of the couple, while an investigation runs, and the defendants are not immediately arrested. If the woman is really harassed, the separation will help ensure that no further harassment occurs and then arrests can be made. However, if it is a false case, there should be heavy penalties imposed on the plaintiff for abusing the provisions of the law.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Nirenjen,
http://www.498a.org/contents/Publicity/498aSurvivalGuide.pdf
This is as messed up as it can be.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Very valid post PK. I fail to understand why when there is a conflict between a man and a woman, by default, its the woman who gets all the sympathy and all the “madhar sangams” jump to the situation to go all out to support the woman.
I personally know of a case where the wife was hysteric and when the husband wanted out of the marriage, his in-laws filed a dowry harrasment case and the poor parents of the guy had to visit the police station every day.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:13 am
There is another law on adultery , seems you can jail a husband on adultery but not a woman .Talk of equality . I can foresee a time where men fight for equality
March 24th, 2008 at 11:20 am
My very first job was very interesting - it helped me overcome my “Ouwaakk” middle-class attitude towards divorce. One of the persons in my group was an NRI lady, who besides the usual NRI hang-ups was not very competent. What started out as an irritation soon turned into office politics when she started making a series of totally baseless complaints against me and the head of the group, a Bengali guy (a thorough gentleman btw) to the mgmt. I realised that she was not normal and you must be a bit “loose” to make the kind of complaints that she was making. She was fired after 9 months on the job - it was becoming too much even for the sympathetic management. We learnt that she had married an Indian citizen, who had applied for divorce - she, it turns out was dragging the process. The first thing that crossed my mind and the Bong guys mind when we learnt about this was “Poor Guy”. It was just an incredibly difficult period for a few months, and made me change my attitude towards divorce and related issues quite a bit. Separation laws are there for a reason - they are absolutely needed; You won’t believe it unless you encounter a genuine case.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
nirenjen,
situation is really pathetic. try browsing through the site.
ravi,
>>I fail to understand…
A lot of money is involved in this process. My friend was elaborating an incident when some of the lawyers and court officers were encouraging the girl to seek compensation. obviously there is a cut in all this!
March 24th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
harish
you are right! i am not sure about equality though. its been long established that its the women tho control the relationship anyway. there is no equality. but harassment, threats take to a different level!
March 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
BNB,
maybe they are for a raeson. but apparently some people are getting married because they are plain bored is what i could sense nowadays in some of the cases
March 24th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
arun,
what you say makes sense.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Dear Prabhu kartik: A humerous comparison to modern cricket of test and 20+20 types, but I also understand the deep anguish behind your statement.Not all the blame can be laid on the elders,I have fairly a wide knowlege of what is happening in the matrimonial world and the society as a whole.I have interacted with both ages.
The whole trouble stems out of the fact that lack of communication added with ego and fondled and nurtured by those around gives rise to a lot of expectation,disappointment,and finally estrangement.
If U had watched yesterday’s Vijay T.V’s chat show with Rose,U will understand hoe the westen culture has marred marriages.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
http://reportmaritalproblems.blogspot.com/
http://india.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/211853.shtml
Men need help too..join the revolution.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Husband can file a case against women stating that she is acting like a psychiatric and can file a divorce based on this note. Gather documents from a psychiatric specialist and evidence them as basis for divorce.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:48 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_Indian_Family
March 28th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Partha sir,
I agree with your other points.
>>fondled and nurtured by those around
Those around in general i’ve found to be elders in quite a few cases.
Friends do not interfere as much. They just mind their own business. Again that can be good or bad.
The intention was not to generalise, but did not want to elaborate on the set of incidents I knew.
Thanks for commenting here
March 28th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
kumar
thanks for the links