Battered husbands air their woes

NASHIK, April 1: Seventeen battered husbands and three mothers-in-law aired their woes at a public meeting organised by the Purush Hakk Samr...

NASHIK, April 1: Seventeen battered husbands and three mothers-in-law aired their woes at a public meeting organised by the Purush Hakk Samrakshan Samiti on Tuesday evening.

All the speakers, some of whom broke down while narrating their plight, claimed to have been victimised by their wives or daughters-in-law under section 498 of the Indian Penal Code. They pointed out that the section was being misused by married women to goad their in-laws into submission. About 200 persons who attended the meeting, nodded.

There was unanimity in the conclusion that though the section had been introduced to prevent ill-treatment of women, especially newly married ones, for dowry, the provision was totally one-sided as married men had no legal backing to counter harassment by wives. It was opined that some women misused the section to impose their will on their in-laws in order to gain an upperhand in domestic affairs, or to cover up their misdeeds. One of the prominent reasons which came to the fore was that newlymarried women wanted to break away from joint families and wanted their husbands to follow.

A 60-year-old woman, Ulka Jewurkar, pointed out that her daughter-in-law even tried to kill her six-month-old baby, when his son refused to break away from the family. The daughter-in-law then allegedly tried to immolate herself, resulting in a case under section 498 a IPC. Nitin Aware, who had a love affair resulting in marriage about 10 years ago, alleged his wife had shown him the door after getting all his property transferred to her name, when he resisted, she filed a case under the section. He alleged that his wife had taken fancy towards a man, who was helping her in her legal battle.

Vasant Bidvi from Thane claimed that his wife deserted him after stealing all ornaments, while Vilas Dewurkar from Ratnagiri said his wife left him when she suspected him to be a tuberculosis patient. In both cases, the husbands are facing charges under section 498 a. Trimbak Saroda told the audience that his wife elopedafter bearing two children and slapped a case on him three years ago.

The first ever quot;Purush Adalatquot; was organised by the Samiti, as part of its campaign to provide free legal advice to battered husbands. The committee had been formed in November 1996 and since then it has held a series of meetings in different parts of Maharashtra as well as other states. It is defending battered husbands in various courts in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.