Harassed men seek redressal from bitter halves

NEW DELHI: Tired of always being at the receiving end of women-oriented laws, ‘harassed’ husbands have now demanded a separate ministry for men’s welfare to specifically cater to issues related to them and a national commission for men - on lines of national commission for women - to look into their problems and settle their grievances at a meeting held here on the occasion of International Men’s Day. 

At the meeting, NGOs promoting gender equality and family harmony, requested prime minister Manmohan Singh and president Pratibha Patil to consider their demand.

In India, an animal has better rights than a married man,” said Swarup Sarkar of the Save Indian Family Foundation (Siff).

“Nearly 80% of tax payers here are men and yet many of them are at the receiving end of the law for no fault of their. As per the labour and employment ministry, more than 13 lakh men lost their jobs between 2001 and 2005. Also, as per the suicide statistics provided by National Crime Records Bureau, more than 55,452 married men committed suicide in 2006 as compared to 29,869 married women. The main reasons that drove these men towards suicide were family problems and matrimonial disputes and almost 60% of them were in the age group 30-59 years,” quoted Sarkar.

The ‘harassed’ husbands also sought amendments to existing laws, often used by disgruntled women to settle scores.

“Large-scale suicides of men should be viewed seriously and suitable measures should be taken to prevent the same. Suicides of husbands within 7 years of marriage should be considered as death due to cruelty and Section 113A and 113B of the Indian evidence Act, 1872, should be suitably modified to accommodate the same,” said Sarkar. Section 113A of the Act deal with presumption as to abetment of suicide by a married women while section 113 b deals with presumption as to dowry death.

The NGOs also demanded that IPC section 498A and Domestic violence Act favour cruelty and violence against men and want laws relating to adultery, rape, sexual harassment and family laws to be gender-neutral. The harassed men also wanted monthly unemployment allowance of Rs600 besides seeking the right to adopt a child.
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