In Part 1 and Part 2 I have covered the laws which can make life of men hell after marriage, and in this part I will cover how their life is danger, either by hands of their wives or by hands of their In Laws. As I have mentioned earlier, Indian wives have TWO Domestic Violence laws, one more draconian than other, but there is absolutely nothing for men. Indian men are considered as third class citizens of the country. There are laws for women, children, animals and even trees, but no laws for men. So Indian women are free to beat their husbands, sometimes even to their death.
Husband Murder due to Adulterous wives
Ever since Adultery law was decriminalized, Husband Murder has become rampant in India. On average, around 400 Husbands are murdered by their wives (and sometimes by wife’s paramours) each year. But since these are deaths of men, the news never gets covered in National Media. We will hardly find any English media covering this news in detail, though local regional media carry such news regularly. I compiled a list of Husband Murders in 2019, and stopped after it reached 99 from November 2019 to July 2020, due to file size constraints in sharing.
There has been some coverage in Hindi Newspaper recently, so hopefully this gets covered in National Media and TV media. On Twitter, all such news are tagged by #HusbandMurder or #CrimeByBharatkiLaxmi.
Husband Murder due to Domestic Violence
There has been remarkable increase in Husband Murder in India by violent wives too. Most of these women are suffering from personality disorders like Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder or Bipolar Disorder. Some are nymphomaniacs or suffering from Hysteria. Due to lack of mental health awareness in India, such women are never treated, and their parents think that after marriage, its the husband’s headache. Most of this results in Domestic Violence on Men after the marriage, and since men have no defense in Indian Judiciary or even in society, the choose to bear it for the “family” or “kids” or simply because they have nowhere to go. This has resulted in wives pouring burning oil over husbands, cutting their private parts, poisoning them, or straight up killing them in sleep. Below are some news clippings, which show that women have killed Husbands just for their looks or petty disputes.
Dowry Death
Now you might be surprised why Dowry Death is included in this blogpost. Many don’t know that any unnatural death of the wife within 7 years of the marriage, can be converted into Dowry Death by her parents.
The real kicker is that, under section 113B of Indian Evidence Act, the court will presume that the death was caused by the accused (Husband/relatives). Any law which presumes accused as guilty from the get go, especially in matrimonial disputes, needs a serious rethink. So, unlike other crimes, onus is on the Husband to prove he is not the murderer. This is an extremely horrible situation for innocent husbands. and most of the time it is really difficult to avoid wrongful conviction. So if anyone’s wife, dies due to slipping in bathroom or due to electric shock or an unfortunate cylinder blast, his in laws can definitely turn her death into Dowry Death and harass the Husband and his family for money. Many instances in which this has been done and is rarely highlighted by media. Some examples here, here and here. Most recent case is of a woman dying while taking selfie with a loaded gun, and her father turning it into Dowry Death. If a Husband thinks that his parents will be safe if they are staying away from him, then he is sadly mistaken. Our “esteemed” Judiciary has made sure that even the parents living separately can be victimized under Dowry charges.
Conclusion
So we have discussed how a man’s and even his parent’s life is in threat after marriage, and there are absolutely no laws to act as a shield. Women can keep doing Domestic Violence, and sometimes even kill their Husbands. No national media house has ever highlighted this, despite alarming rise in Husband Murders. But a death of a woman is readily converted into Dowry Death, and everyone dedicates TV segments, tweets, online debates on unending “Dowry problem” in India.
As usual, simple solution to avoid all this: DON’T MARRY. In next Part, we will cover: Parental Alienation, Shared Parenting and POCSO.
PS: If you are facing Domestic Violence or false charges of Dowry Death, please join MensRights.Net.