We are Victims; not Vamps.
| Section 498A is so frequently abused, it should be made bailable |
| Odeal D’Souza |
| On the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day on Monday, a group of women refrained from celebrations. What inspired the protest of the All -India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum? Odeal D’Souza spoke with Nena Dhulia, president of the forum, which also opposes the proposal for 33% reservation of seats in Parliament for women.
Why are you opposing women’s reservation bill?
The problem is with the stubborn old alpha male politicians, not with the Constitution. The bill is likely to do no good to women who are powerless; even a reservation such as the one currently being debated will not assure them of political representation. Until there is greater recognition of their rights and better education of women, this kind of law will make no change. The reservation of seats will enable women from more dominant sections of society to enter Parliament, and they are likely to represent their own groups, rather than women in general.
If the bill becomes a law, it will sabotage the political careers of some able men, who are just as capable of representing women as women themselves. Also, the seats that are reserved are likely to change, so continuous political attachment to one constituency will be marred, whether the candidate is male or female.
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| Written by Odeal D’Souza.
Bangalore: |
| Odd voices of resentment struck a discordant note during the euphoric eve of International Women’s Day celebrations here on Sunday. Aggrieved mothers-in-law and husbands staged a candlelight vigil in protest against the violence allegedly perpetrated by daughters-in-law.
The protestors, belonging to the All India Mother-In-Law Protection Forum, Save Indian Family Foundation and Family Harmony Society, shouted slogans during the protest that lasted for an hour and a half in front of the Gandhi statue on MG Road.
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Tags: Bahu, Daughter-in-Law, daughters in law, domestic violence, domestic violence act, dowry, false allegations, family foundation, family health survey, Government, Indian Family, mother-in-law, Saas, social forum, Society, violence against women, Women's Rights
Mumbai: A magistrates court recently acquitted a man and his aged parents in a case of cruelty to wife under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code.The court held that the young wife,who made these allegations of cruelty and harassment over dowry,could not substantiate them.
It was a routine trial for the lawyers,but for the mother-in-law charged of abuse and harassment,the acquittal was a vindication of sorts.The 62-year-old woman felt she had come out of a nightmare.She is not alone,many others feel hurt and at the mercy of the legal process once their daughters-in-law or sisters-in-law initiate a criminal case against them under section 498-A.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says that between 2004 and 2007,1.2 lakh women were arrested for an offence under section 498-A,the section many men find draconian,but which aims at preventing torture of helpless wives over dowry.
This Womens Day,a group of women and men have come together as Mothers and Sisters of Husbands against Abuse of Law (MASHAAL) to protest the misuse of section 498-A.The group is part of a local NGO,Indian Family Foundation,which aims tackle the abuse of law.
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Tags: alleged victim, bread winner, crime records, daughters in law, dialysis treatment, dowry, extreme step, indian penal code, mashaal, medical grounds, national crime, ncrb, studying law, timely intervention, young wife
PRESS RELEASE
Sub: Announcing candle light protest by AIMPF on eve of International Women’s Day.
All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum (AIMPF) is the first ever social forum created to protect the rights and interests of the mother-in-law. It is a non-funded non-profit organization which is creating awareness about the problems faced by mothers-in-law and also fights against their de-facto villainous projection in the socio-legal arena. It can be reached at http://www.aimpf.org. This forum was created on 6th September 2009 in Bangalore and very soon grew into Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Nagpur, Lucknow, Chhattisgarh, Guwahati, etc. with more than 1000 members.
On March 7th 2010, on the eve of International Women’s Day 2010, AIMPF, is conducting a candle light protest from 6 PM to 7: 30 PM on M G Road in front of Gandhi Statue. This protest is being held to create awareness about the plight of mothers-in-law who are abused by not only their daughters-in-law and their parents but also by the society, judiciary, and the laws. AIMPF also opposes the enactment of iVAWA – International Violence against Women Act – in India. It will further spread male hatred and pamper family breaking women at the expense of devout and sincere women who take a pride in taking care of their family members rather than dragging them to court for vexatious and baseless litigations.
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Tags: 99s, 9d, candle light, daughters in law, feminists, gandhi statue, international women s day, legal arena, litigations, mother-in-law, mothers in law, social forum, violence against women, violence against women act, young wives
The Domestic Violence Act was passed in 2005.and implemented in 2006 for the protection of women (Wife). But the Law-Makers have completely forgotten or rather ignored the fact that violence can be inflicted by the same wife on the members of the family either mentally, physically, emotionally, verbally, socially and financially in order to gain personal scores, to have financial control or to separate the husband from the parents. According to the law, only the wife can make a complaint and it does not require any proof for her to claim maintenance from the husband. With fabricated stories and crocodile tears she can easily register a false case .The judges feel it is their duty to protect even adulterous wives thus doing injustice to the victim husband and his family.
Each individual coming together make a family and a home. Many homes taken together make a society, a village, a town, a city and a country. But in India gradually the society is breaking up due to the domestic violence happening in each and every home. Why is it that in every family problems start only after a daughter in-law enters the home?
The Government is spending enormously in combating terrorism on the borders of the country but when will the issue of domestic terrorists in the guise of daughter- in- law who Misuses the laws and creates havoc in the families be properly tackled.
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Tags: adulterous wives, chhattisgarh, combating terrorism, crocodile tears, daughters in law, domestic terrorists, domestic violence act, false case, famous women, madhu kishwar, members of the family, mothers in law, nagpur, personal scores, rights activist
Article published in the Hindi Bi-Weekly Journal “Grihashobha“.
Click to download PDF
Tags: Arrests, Bahu, Daughter-in-Law, daughters in law, domestic violence, dowry, Government, Grihashobha, Harassed, Indian Family, Laws, legal terrorism, Marriage, Misuse, mom-in-law, mother-in-law, mothers in law, Society, Tortured, violence against women, Women
The Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which was passed in the year 1983, is GENDER BIASED, ONE-SIDED AND FAULTY. The irony of the whole system is that every department is hell-bent upon harassing and punishing the Husband’s family even before being proven guilty. The injustice begins right from the police station where every marital discord is converted into a 498A and the injustice continues all the way to the court for years together.
The whole Government system inspite of being aware of the MISUSE of this section is allowing it to continue because each one has a share in the money extorted from the husbands’ families. The ordinary citizens being unaware of this LEGAL-TERRORISM remain entangled in their problems and nobody questions the inadequacies of the Government, the Politicians, the NCW, the Bureaucrats the Law-makers, and the Judiciary. The common man is totally ignorant of these real facts. The real truth behind the Government allowing the anti-MALE, GENDER-BIASED AND ONE-SIDED laws to continue without any AMENDMENTS for years shows that the Government has no intentions to curb the menace of Section 498A MISUSE. The shop of the police, the lawyers and judiciary will stop once the law is made BAILLABLE, so the whole system wants the society to be always kept in fear of this law and there will be no one to check their supremacy.
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Tags: abetter, common man, dowry prohibition act, draconian law, government system, inadequacies, indian penal code, inspite, legal terrorism, male gender, marital discord, married woman, ordinary citizens, real truth, year 1983
