Abstract
Despite several recognitions of the misuse of section 498A in India, no laws are being provided for the protection of men against domestic violence. According to this section, the victims’ families are also being held liable for the misuse. Sometimes, because of the judgment of society and the embarrassment that they can’t be the victims of the abuse, they cry in silence. The number of suicide cases among men is increasing, due to the non-supportive nature of the society and the Indian judiciary. Various laws are being provided for women’s protection, and several NGOs are there for the benefit of women, but fewer NGOs are there for the benefit of men.
That’s why this section prevails as a gender-biased law. Because they often discriminate against men, even though women are being held that they are misusing the provisions, they are not held liable for their mistakes. Still, when men are being held for domestic violence, this turns out to be a criminal offence. This paper examines whether the evolving attitude within feminist society rendered Section 498A of the IPC a gender-biased law? This paper will also study if there are any loopholes in the Indian judiciary’s domestic violence, that favour wives over husbands, potentially neglecting the male victims of domestic violence. The author will also examine the suggestions for improving society.
The author of this paper collected data through secondary resources, and the methodology used is doctrinal research, which included referring to articles, journals, case commentaries, the analysis of reports and previously published research papers by different authors.
Keywords: Misuse of section 498A, domestic violence, discrimination against men, gender-biased law.
INTRODUCTIONSection 498A of the IPC acknowledges domestic violence against women as a crime.[1] It was introduced in the Criminal Law (Second Amendment Act), 1983, Act No. 46 of 1983 under Chapter XX A as ‘Of Cruelty by Husband or Relative of Husband’[2]. In society, there is a misbelief that women are the only one who faces abuse, not men. Many cases of domestic violence are coming up where the males are the victims and the females are the aggressors[3]. According to findings, Indian women were most abusive and oppressive.[4] According to the report of the survey, 51.5 % of males had suffered violence from an intimate partner once in their lives[5]. The Supreme Court of India claims Section 498A as “Legal Terrorism” because women are misusing this section and there is no prohibition clause in the Section 498A law that would stop women from misusing it. Most cases were filed only because the husband refused to throw his parents out of the house at the wife’s demand.[6] Preliminary, this section was used to protect innocent women from actual cases where they are being troubled mentally and physically at their homes. At present, this section is being misused by at the hand of women against their husbands and in-laws to extort large amounts of money, and to marry someone else they love, this provision is misused by women at a high rate, due to which the number of fake cases was high fake. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Statistics 2020 mentions that 1,11,549 were registered under 498A, of which 5,520 were counterfeit cases.[7]
Even after several decades have passed, Section 498A of the IPC has not evolved to address the protection of husbands from domestic abuse. Even though many have acknowledged the importance of safeguarding men from domestic abuse, the conditions remain the same, and men face notable challenges in society.
[1]“498A Use and Misuse” 18 Feb. 2022, bnblegal.com/article/498a-use-and-misuse/. Accessed 13 July 2024.
[2]Sabu, Agnes. “Loopholes in Section 498-A IPC.” Jus Corpus LJ 2 (2021): 645.
[3]Sahoo, Ankita. “Domestic Violence against Men.” Issue 2 Int’l JL Mgmt. & Human. 4 (2021): 2816.
[4]Sharma, Soumya. “What about the Men Who Face Domestic Violence?.” Jus Corpus LJ 2 (2021): 495.
[5] Ibid
[6]“IPC 498a” Anti Social and Family breaker, www.498a.org/top25.htm. Accessed 13 July 2024.
[7]D’souza, Jonus Issac. “A Step towards Gender Neutral Laws: A Need of the Hour.” Issue 2 Int’l JL Mgmt. & Human. 6 (2023): 3278.