Men's Rights Denied: An Indian Perspective

With growing concerns about denial of justice and fair treatment in laws and judicial system and with increasing suicides of men due to marital terror, men’s rights activists across India are demanding that “Men have a Right to live a dignified life” and society must not consider the lives of men as cheap or as disposable. We point at the facts like one married man is committing suicide in every 9 minutes and that intimate terror has no gender bias, while courts deny justice to male victims of intimate terror.

Men’s Rights activists today have no enthusiasm to celebrate August 15th as India's Independence Day, as they no longer feel any sense of freedom inside India’s biased justice system. “Staying alive" is a struggle for Indian men today.

Many women have also started championing for men’s rights, opposing anti-male bias in the laws and growing misandry (hatred against males) in the society. They are also demanding gender neutral laws. As a norm, men are facing extortion as demands of huge alimony after marriage. Recently, a woman demanded Rs.1 crore (10 million) in court as alimony from her husband, a software engineer after 2 years of marriage. Biased Laws have converted marriage into a business now. Throughout India, Mothers, Grand Mothers, Sisters (both married & unmarried) are up in arms to stop this evil. Mothers of husbands are denied the right to see their grand children, who become pawn's at the wife's mercy.

Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) are asserting that intimate terror has no gender bias and as thousands of men are dying due to intimate or marital terror. While, there are scores of laws for women there are none to protect men or their families from torture by wives or their powerful family members.

The suicides of males due to intimate terror are almost always dismissed as accidental deaths and police never files FIRs, even when the man has written a suicide note blaming torture and abuse by wife as the cause of him taking this extreme step. However, if a woman commits suicide due to even mental problems, not only the husband, but also his parents are jailed for causing her death by a mere complaint by woman’s parents. Media also sensationalizes these female deaths, while ignoring suicides of males due to marital terror as there is no such law for men.

Last year, about 58,000 married men committed suicide compared to 31,000 married women. According to National Crime Records Bureau, 18,441 men compared to 11,641 women committed suicide due to family reasons (and marital terror), while only 5,089 men committed suicide due to poverty and bankruptcy. So, it is very clear that men need laws to protect them from marital terror. However, Government and courts are not listening. Due to this, men are finding it difficult to stay alive.

With increase in separations, divorces and multiple court cases, many men are losing jobs or are completely unable to carry on with their professions due to stress and depression. However, courts are rarely sympathetic to such men and order them to pay huge alimony to wives every month. Many men are also thrown out of their own houses without verifying facts or truth, when wife files a false case of domestic violence in the court. These men are on the streets now.

Demands by Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs):

1) A special Domestic Violence act for men must be enacted at Parliament to prevent rise of men’s suicides due to marital terror by wives.

2) Tenure of Marriage must be considered by courts, while awarding alimony. Less alimony for short marriages and more for long marriages.

3) No alimony to working women (without children), if they earn salaries more than Rs.20,000/- (US$ 434) per month.

4) Men must not be thrown out of their houses in domestic violence cases.

5) Shared parenting of Children must be considered as default arrangement by courts instead of encouraging prolonged child custody disputes.

6) Courts must tell highly educated women to work instead of telling husbands to pay huge sums of money as alimony or maintenance to wife every month.

The most frequent reason for suicide of men is “family problems”, not economic problems as often perceived. The suicides of men increased rapidly with economic growth in last 15 years.

Gender wise, Statistics of number of victims of Murders, Suicides and Accidents all over India
(Figures as per National Crimes Record Bureau report)

Murder:
Male Victims-24,441, Female Victims-8,718 Total Victims-33,159

Culpable Homicide Not Amounting To Murder (Sec.304 and 308 IPC) During 2009
Male Victims=3,529, Female Victims=753 Total Victims=4282

Dowry Death Convictions (75% dowry death cases are false and lead to no convictions)
In 2009, 2008 and 2007 the dowry death convictions are 1882, 1948 and 1946 respectively.

These dowry deaths are too small a number for a country of 1.2 billion people.

Accidental Deaths:
Male Victims=276,333 Female Victims=80,688 Total Victims=357021
(Male Victims=77.4%, female Victims=22.6%)

Suicides:
Male Victims=81,471 Female victims=45,680 (Total Victims=127151)
(Male Victims=64.1%, female Victims=35.9%)

Total Victims of Suicide, Murder and Accidents:
Male Victims=361,333 Female Victims=135,839
Male Victims: 73%, Female Victims: 27%

So, who is more vulnerable in Indian Society?
The males or females?
Who is more likely to be a victim? A male or a female?

Regards,
Anwar H. Danish