Victimizing Husbands under Domestic Violence Law: Some Observations and Reflections

3.1 Introduction
Determining the rate of intimate partner violence against males can be difficult, as men are often reluctant to report their abuse or seek help. One of the reasons for this is that intimate partner violence against men is generally less recognized than women. Additionally, heterosexual male victims of intimate partner violence are often judged harshly for allowing themselves to be beaten based upon the general rule that men are physically stronger than women, and, therefore, should be able to prevent and view which disregards that violent women tend to use objects during intimate partner violence at a higher rate than violent men.
3.2 Opinion of Experts and Other Persons in Relation to Domestic Violence against Husband
Mithun Kumar, a researcher at SIFF, has said that police don't take any action even if the suicide note of a man states that he was tortured by his wife and in-laws, but if a woman commits suicide, her husband's family is taken into custody without investigation.
In July 2014, Kumar V. Jahgirdar, president of Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), attributed the suicides among married men on family stress. CRISP said that in study conducted by it, it was found that married men committed suicide mainly due to misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Domestic Violence Act of 2005. Swarup Sarkar, founder of SIFF, pointed that there is no legal provision for married men facing verbal or mental abuse.
 While speaking on the issue of domestic violence,  Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor (on behalf of NLU Delhi) – “There is enough evidence to suggest that this Section has been misused in many ways. However, the misuse did not flow from the principle and intention on which this law is based. Robust effort should be made to implement the law so that the social objective of the law does not suffer. The misuse or false implications could be minimised by insisting on strict observance of the law of arrest as evolved in D.K. Basu case [(1997) 1 SCC 416)]. Secondly, the mandate of this law should be shifted from penal to restorative purpose. The recourse to mediation and conciliation in the first instance is the best idea. The arrest and other drastic legal measures should begin when all the options of restoration have failed. Registering the case is the legal obligation of the police but they need not act in undue haste to effect the arrest. They should be guided by the spirit of Section 157 Cr. P.C.”[1]
The former Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee has also criticized the broad definition of verbal abuse in the Act.[2]
The former President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil in one of her speech said: “Another disquieting trend has been that women themselves have not been innocent of abusing women. At times women have played an unsavoury, catalytic role in perpetrating violence against others. Instances exist whereby protective legal provisions for the benefit of women have been subjected to distortion and misuse to wreak petty vengeance and to settle scores. Some surveys have concluded that around 80 per cent of dowry complaints are false and were registered primarily to settle scores. It is unfortunate if laws meant to protect women get abused as instruments of oppression.”[3]
3.3 Domestic Violence against Men in India- Some Statistical Reflections
Very little is known about family violence, but recent examinations of the problem have revealed some startling cases of women who abuse their children, husband and parents. The thought of a woman beating up or battering her husband is the cause for many deep guffaws, especially from men. Yet this form of spouse abuse is now believed to be more commonplace than previously imagined. Two scientists, Roger Langley and Suzanne Steinmetz, working independently, report that millions of husbands are battered but do not report such abuse for fear of humiliation. Langley offers the least conservative estimate by contending that 12 million men are physically abused by their spouses at some point in their marriages, and about 1 million of these men are severely beaten. [4]
Steinmetz reports about 280,000 men annually are battered husbands who tend not to defend themselves from their wives, either because they fear they could severely damage a woman, or because they feel that a man who hit a woman is thought of as a bully.[5]
In 2004, CNN-IBN published some astonishing statistics regarding the use or rather misuse of Section 498A, only 5% of the men booked and harassed under this section were convicted and more than four times that number have been acquitted.[6]As per the National Crime Records Bureau data, more than 80% people arrested under dowry law cases have turned out to be innocent. [7]
In 2006, a total number of 1,37,180 persons were arrested under Section 498A and out of those 4,812 were not even charge sheeted. Out of 62,746 persons who were charge sheeted, 50,895 i.e. approximately 81% were found innocent after the completion of the trial and the rest are still under trial. Every year 52,000 married men commit suicide in India as against 28,000 married women. Every year more than 1,00,000 men lose their job and become unemployed because of wrongful arrests under the laws made for protection of women.[8]
Suicide Committed By Both Sexes[9]
            The study conducted by National Family Foundation in 2005 regarding suicidal rates of both the genders showed the following shocking results.
These figures clearly show that more husbands are compelled to commit suicide after their distrust in social and legal system.[10] It is due to unbearable harassment, mental torture, disturbed family life, male bashing, financial pressures, marital problems and family pressures. They don’t get any support, but if a woman would commit suicide then feminists, women organizations, civil authorities, legal system and media would proactively come in support of victim’s family. When all acts of physical aggression or violence are considered in aggregate, women are equally violent as men, or more violent than men.
The data from the National Family Violence Survey consistently show that men and women are equally likely to be physically assaulted by an intimate partner. While much attention has been focused on domestic violence against women, men’s rights activists argue that domestic violence against men is a social problem that is also worthy of attention.

In the US 800,000 men per year are either physically assaulted or raped by their partners. That boils down to 3.2 to 3 percent of non- fatal violence against men stemming from domestic situations.[12] Men are normally very reluctant to report domestic abuse to the police or judiciary unless it is life threatening.
Suicide rates of married men in India are higher than females and their proportion increases with their age. As figures from Indiastat.com shows: for males in the age group of 30 to 44, the Suicide rate is a whopping 508 per 1,00,000 persons; for women it is 220. The suicide rates among men in the age group of 45 to 59 are a shocking 1,812 per 1,00,000 persons and among women, nearly 550. However, among divorced males the suicide rate is 164 per 1,00,000 persons, but even in this class, among females the rate is only 63 per 1,00,000.[13]
The lifestyle of married couple have changed drastically in last few years that has made husbands and his family members more susceptible to domestic violence. Many cases go unreported when wife and her relatives cannot be punished due to limitations in the laws.
The My Nation Foundation along with Save Family Foundation (Delhi) conducted a study on domestic violence against men, between March 2005 and September 2007. These NGOs interviewed and went through some 1650 Indian men personal cases and concluded from this study that Indian women are most abusive and dominating.[14]
Domestic Violence against Indian Men
The study is conducted by My Nation Foundation along with Save Family Foundation (Delhi) on Domestic violence against men between the 10th March 2005 and 30th September 2007. These NGOs interviewed and went through some 1650 Indian men’s personal cases and concluded from study that Indian women are most abusive and dominating.
Out of 1650 men interviewed, 416 were subjected to physical violence, 368 were subjected to Verbal/ Emotional violence, 541 were to economic violence, 292 to sexual abuse and only 33 were those who were not subjected to any type of violence.

Violence against Men belonging to different age groups:
According to the survey above mentioned, the total 160 men subjected to violence were categorized under various age groups. As per the study, out of 1650 people, 92 men were between the age group of 15-25 years, 1105 men were between the age group of 26-35 years, 385 men were between the age group of 35-45 years, 68 were those who are above 45 years of age.
Violence against husbands belonging to different professions:
The same survey also reflected violence against husbands engaged in various professions. The purpose of this differentiation was that they wanted to highlight the fact that violence has no relation with a person being in any particular profession.
Out of same 1650 men interviewed, 326 were in the profession of marketing, 635 were either Doctors or Engineers, 399 were self- employed, 262 were in Govt. Jobs and only 28 were unemployed.

Ballots of polls relating to Domestic Violence against men:

My nation foundation also set up polls over a period of two years, on domestic violence against men, and out of 295 Ballots[19] as shown in the graph.
      Out of these 295 ballots, 99 men were subjected to verbal abuse by their wives, 91 men were subjected to mental torture by their wives, 73 were subjected to either denial of sex or were subjected to over sex and rest 32 were subjected to physical abuse by their partner.
    Most of the Indian women are verbally abusive. This verbal abuse leads to mental torture, but society and judiciary consider women can’t verbally or mentally harass or abuse men. It is also found out that when things go wrong or when husband is not following what a wife demands, her family, in laws start to threaten to load him with false cases like under section 498A IPC or under the Domestic Violence Act. If that does not work, they use force, physically torture or issue threats to the man’s life.
Comparative Analysis of Suicide Committed By Both the Genders
 The 2005 Suicide Statistics concluded that the suicides committed by men were far more in comparison to that of the women.
      According to  the NCRB statistics, the suicides committed by unmarried men were 77% more than unmarried women. Suicides by married men were 86% more than married women. Suicides by widowed men were 11% more than widow women. Suicides by separated men were 57 % more than separated women. In total suicides committed by men were 78% more than women.
In January 2014, of 224 domestic violence complaints filed in Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh, 160 were filed by husbands. Also, Jabalpur, Amarkantak and Hoshangabad region have a significant number of sadhus who have left their marriage. About 4,500 husbands are missing from family court records in the region.
Ram Prakash Chugh has stated that many times husbands don't report being attacked by their wives with household utensils because of their ego. Swarup Sarkar of Save Indian Family has said that there is no evidence to prove that the domestic violence faced by men is less than that faced by women.
Indian Social Awareness and Activism Forum (INSAAF) and Confidare Research have drafted a Bill which aims to protect men and boys from domestic violence from their spouse, girlfriends and parents. The bill is called Saving Men from Intimate Terror Act (SMITA) and the groups aim to introduce in for debate in the parliament.[21]
3.4 Judicial Attitude & Domestic Violence
Laws are ineffective without the role of the judiciary. Courts in India have played positive role in the matters of violence against men and have argued for award of punishment to the perpetrator in accordance with the gravity of the violence attributed towards men. The role of judiciary has been appreciable. In many cases the Courts have taken a negative opinion not favoring the cause of a woman.
3.4.1 Judicial Attitude towards Misuse of Section 498A IPC:
In Mrs. Deepalakshmi Saehia Zingade Vs. Sachi Rameshrao Zingade[22] petitioner/wife filed a false case against her husband on the ground of husband having girl friend. The allegations made by wife were however were not supported by cogent evidences and thus the court held that wife failed to prove the act of cruelty and the case is  proved as false in a court of law so it can be considered as cruelty against husband.
In Anil Bharadwaj Vs. Nimlesh Bharadwaj[23] the Court observed, 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.
In Kalpana Vs. Surendranath[24] the Court observed that where a wife who refuses to prepare tea for the husbands friends was declared by the court as cruelty to husband. Though the amendments introduced in the penal code are with the laudable object of eradicating the evil of 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 reason which may be many other than cruelty.
3.4.2 Judicial Attitude towards Misuse of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
In case of Rani Devi v. Hussan Lal[25], it was observed that cruelty "as a matrimonial offence was not necessarily a male preserve, and certainly not so where it is the husband and his relations who are at the receiving end. In this case the husband was a frail looking young man compared to the robust and heavier built wife. She was pressuring the husband to live separately from other members of the family. He being the eldest and sole earning member could not do so. His wife started quarrelling with him and his relations and beat even the old mother of her husband. She used to beat her husband and his relations. It was held that there were no mitigating circumstances in favour of the wife to absolve her from the blame accuring to her. Hence the decree of judicial separation was not interfered with by the High Court
In Ashish Dixit & Ors v. State of U.P. & Anr.[26] The apex court held that the petition filed under the Domestic Violence Act was nothing but a gross misuse of the Act and thus denied the wife any relief under the said petition and granted leave to the petitioners.
In Sushil Kumar Sharma vs. Union of India,[27], the Supreme Court of India for the first time used the term “Legal Terrorism” for denoting the terror that women laws had unleashed on Indian males and their families.
In Sonia Vs Vinod[28] dismissing the complaint, Metropolitan Magistrate Shahabuddin said, “I am prima facie of the considered opinion that the complainant is not cooperating with her in-laws. She prima facie appears to be harassing them on trivial matters”. Complainant Sonia had approached the court in August, alleging her husband Vinod and his mother and sisters used to physically harass her for bringing insufficient dowry The court, however, declined to allow her complaint, asking a number of relief s, including right to residence. “The woman failed to satisfy this court that her husband or any of his other family members had really committed any domestic violence against her”.
In Sumana Bhasin v, Neeraj Bhasin & Ors [29]a rare case of its kind, a Metropolitan Magistrate of Saket Court in New Delhi, Shivani Chauhan, has dismissed the domestic violence complaint of a woman, who resides in south Delhi, saying that she had falsified and concocted various allegations and suppressed important facts in order to harass her husband and her in-laws. The court noted that the complainant woman misused legal provisions as a tool to extort unjustified money from her husband and her in-laws for unjustified personal gain. The court also imposed a cost of Rs. 1 lakh on her as exemplary costs. The Court observed:
"The testimony of the complainant (woman) throws light on the conduct of the complainant and the extent, to which she has falsified and concocted various allegations and has suppressed important facts in order to harass the respondents (husband and parents-in-laws) and had misused the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act as a tool to extort unjustified money from respondent no 1 (husband) for unjustified personal gain. It is a fit case which calls for imposition of exemplary cost on complainant, so that like minded people are dissuaded from resorting to such mala fide practices."

The court directed the woman to deposit the fine in the account of Blind Relief Association.
"The imposition of cost is in furtherance of the principle that wrongdoers should not get benefit out of frivolous litigations," it said.
In Radha Vs. Rahul Arora & Ors[30] & Smt Ranjana Gupta V. Rajnesh Gupta & Ors[31] case, the wife alleged the husband and the relative of her husband to have committed  physical as well as mental abuse against her on various occasions. The prosecution  produced testimony of various neighbors that the wife was actually been subjected to abuse by the in-laws. The witnesses however could not prove their veracity during the cross examination. Thus the court held that the wife has cooked up the facts and evidences of the case in order to satisfy her feeling of vengeance thus the petition was dismissed with a cost of Rs. 5000/-.
In Koushik v. Sangeeta[32] case, the trial court ordered for maintenance to be awarded to the wife but the prosecution had failed to prove the act of violence was committed by the husband. The aggrieved husband filed an appeal before the High Court. The High Court held that the trial court errord in ordering maintenance under section 20 of the Domestic violence Act even when the act of domestic violence is not totally proved thus the petitioner is hereby granted relief and the judgment of the trial court stands overruled.
In the case of Sulekan Bairagi v. Kamalakant Bairagi[33]the husband was a professor in a college and well qualified. The wife had no liking for him from the beginning. He saw his wife in compromising position with another with another person and became angry with that person, who struck the husband on his head whereby the husband suffered grevious injuries and was hospitalized. The husband was struck at the instances of the wife. He remained in the hospital for 21 days. The wife even did not go to the hospital to see her husband. The trial court granted decree of judicial separation. The High Court confirmed the findings of the trial court and held that even a single act of grossly violent character may constitute cruelty.
In the case of Bhagwanti v. Laxmandas Panjwani[34] the wife started misbehaving and ill treating the husband after 8-10 months of marriage. She even slapped her husband. The logic of the wife was that her mother also beats her father. When the husband thought of complaining the matter of her ill-treatments to the police, his wife threatened that she will throw their daughter and kill her and then falsely involve the husband for killing the baby. It was argued on behalf of the wife that the husband had condoned the cruel treatment of the wife and continued to live with her. The husband alleged that the wife continued with the conduct and assaulted him even thereafter, in presence of others. The High Court observed that, despite tolerance and overtures of forgiveness and forbearance on the part of the husband, the wife continued to misbehave and torture him. Her adventures rather increased and there was revival of cruelty and misbehaviour on her part, as has been disclosed in the evidence. Therefore it was held that the cruelty and misbehaviour of the wife not only continued but also revived on account of such continuance. Hence, held that the husband was entitled to decree of divorce. 
Thus, in short we can say that the judiciary of India has been actively working in the direction of preserving the rights of husband. However, husbands have to undergo hardships during the stage of investigation but judiciary has always ensured justice to the males by cautiously acted in maintaining equality amongst the two genders of the society.









[1]  Section 498A IPC Report No.243, para 8.1, pp 1-85 , p 76 August 2012 Available at http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report243.pdf, retrieved on 11-12-2016
[2] Supra note 59 at 358
[3] Supra note 59 at 406
[4] Supra note 59 at 378
[5] Supra note 59 at 404
[6] Supra note 59 at 380
[7] Supra note 59 at 392
[8] Supra note 59 at 368
[9] Supra note 59 at 390
[10] World Heritage Encyclopedias, “Men’s Rights Movement in India”, 2014
[11] Supra note 59 at 402
[12]  Ibid.
[13] Supra note 59 385
[14] Supra note 59 at p 404
[15] Ibid
[16] Supra note 94
[17] Supra note 94
[18] Supra note 95
[19] Supra note 59 at p 406
[20] Supra note 95
[21] Supra note 3
[22] AIR 2010 Bom
[23] AIR 1987 Del 111
[24] AIR 1985 All 253
[25] AIR 1998 P&H 65.
[26] (CRL)No. 8522 of 2010
[27] JT 2005 (6) SC 266
[28] 2009 CrLJ
[29] 2015 Del District Court
[30] 2015 Del HC
[31] 2014 Del HC
[32] 2014 Bom HC
[33] 1981(1) DMC 217
[34] AIR 2000 MP 190

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