Revision as of 21:47, 14 October 2017

Abuse of anti-dowry laws

2011-13: false cases

The Times of India

2011-13: false dowry and sexual harassment cases in India (The red bar refers to 2013)

2011-13, false dowry and sexual harassment cases: the five worst states of India

Mar 22 2015

10% of dowry cases false, govt plans changes in law

Deeptiman Tiwary

New Delhi:

Every year more than 10,000 complaints of dowry harassment are found to be false. Given that close to 90,000 to 1 lakh cases are investigated every year, the figure makes it one of the most abused laws in the country . The Centre is now working on a proposal to make Section 498A of the IPC, that deals with offences of dowry demand and cruelty by husband and in-laws, compoundable.So, the law, if amended, would have the provision of settlement between the warring couple if the court allows it.

As the law stands now, the offence is non-compoundable and non-bailable. This leads to immediate arrest of hus band and in-laws with onus on them to prove their innocence. It also rules out any effort at reconciliation.

Sources in home ministry said that a draft note was sent to the law ministry for drawing up a draft bill for the Union cabinet to amend Section 498A. Making dowry law compoundable was also recommended by the law commission and Justice Malimath Committee.

The new law would have penalty provisions of Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 1,000 now if the case is found to be false, said sources. However, it would not be easy to get such an amendment through as women's rights activists have opposed such moves in the past. The argument against any dilution of the law is that it is the strength that several economically dependent and helpless women have against dowry harassment. A dilution effected due to over 10% false cases will affect millions whose cases may be genuine.

Arguments in favour have stressed that those who are really in need hardly approach the police against in-laws due to various societal pressures and it's only those looking to `exact revenge' and having robust economic strength who reach the courts. In a recent order, the Supreme Court had said Section 498A had “dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives“. An effort by National Commission for Women to amend Dowry Prohibition Act came a cropper after government rejected the recommendation last year. Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi had in December, 2014 informed Lok Sabha, “The NCW had recommended certain amendments in Dowry Prohibition Act. However, the ministry has taken a considered view on the matter and decided to drop the amendment after taking into account the comments of the high-level committee on the status of women and the ministry of home affairs.”

Govt rejected NCW's bid to amend Dowry Act

The Times of India

Mar 22 2015

Every year more than 10,000 complaints of dowry harassment are found to be false. Given that close to 90,000 to 1 lakh cases are investigated every year, the figure makes it one of the most abused laws in the country . The Centre is now working on a proposal to make Section 498A of the IPC, that deals with offences of dowry demand and cruelty by husband and in-laws, compoundable.So, the law, if amended, would have the provision of settlement between the warring couple if the court allows it.

As the law stands now, the offence is non-compoundable and non-bailable. This leads to immediate arrest of hus band and in-laws with onus on them to prove their innocence. It also rules out any effort at reconciliation.

Sources in home ministry said that a draft note was sent to the law ministry for drawing up a draft bill for the Union cabinet to amend Section 498A. Making dowry law compoundable was also recommended by the law commission and Justice Malimath Committee.

The new law would have penalty provisions of Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 1,000 now if the case is found to be false, said sources. However, it would not be easy to get such an amendment through as women's rights activists have opposed such moves in the past. The argument against any dilution of the law is that it is the strength that several economically dependent and helpless women have against dowry harassment. A dilution effected due to over 10% false cases will affect millions whose cases may be genuine.

Arguments in favour have stressed that those who are really in need hardly approach the police against in-laws due to various societal pressures and it's only those looking to `exact revenge' and having robust economic strength who reach the courts. In a recent order, the Supreme Court had said Section 498A had “dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives“. An effort by National Commission for Women to amend Dowry Prohibition Act came a cropper after government rejected the recommendation last year. Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi had in December, 2014 informed Lok Sabha, “The NCW had recommended certain amendments in Dowry Prohibition Act. However, the ministry has taken a considered view on the matter and decided to drop the amendment after taking into account the comments of the high-level committee on the status of women and the ministry of home affairs.“

SC on misuse of anti-dowry law, 2013

Jump in dowry arrests, not many convicted

Abhinav Garg New Delhi:

TNN

The Times of India Jul 07 2014

The Supreme Court judgment on the misuse of the anti-dowry law comes close on the heels of the latest National Crime Records Bureau figures that show a jump of 12.3% in arrests under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code since 2012.

The data in the 2013 NCRB crime statistics report vindicate the court's concerns that the penal provision meant to combat the menace of harassment of women by husband or in-laws is often being used as a “weapon rather than shield by disgruntled wives“. IPC 498A being a cognizable and nonbailable offence only worsens the plight of the accused.

Section 41 of Criminal Procedure Code lays down a ninepoint check list for police to weigh the need to arrest after examining the conduct of the accused, including possibility of absconding.

An analysis of NCRB reports of last three years show disturbing trends that obviously played on SC's mind when it came out with the recent guidelines. For one, more and more women are being arrested and charged under the section that is meant to protect women. Nearly 21-22% of those arrested by police for cruelty against a wife happen to be women themselves--they are either the husband's mother, sister or other female relatives. Misuse of the law by some estranged wives

Misuse of the provision is also evident from the fact that the rate of chargesheeting by police hovers around 93-94% for all the three years while conviction rate by courts is a dismal low of 15-20%.

TOI spoke to lawyers and judges in Delhi who welcomed the apex court verdict terming it as a much needed safeguard against arbitrary arrest under IPC 498A. They also underlined that the SC judgment would have far-reaching consequences only if police and in vestigative agencies adhere to it instead of sidestepping the norms. The apex court has noted that police have “not come out of its colonial image. Despite six decades of Independence, it is largely considered as a tool of harassment, oppression and surely not considered a friend of public“.

A serving judge highlighted how a Delhi high court ruling that the DCP's nod is a must before arresting in-laws of a woman in a case of marital cruelty has been negated by police. “We have observed a trend where police have actively aided misuse of dowryand cruelty-related marital provisions.

Despite HC directives, certain police stations include 354 (outraging modesty) or causing injuries as additional sections in the FIR. Police then immediately lodge the FIR saying since it is not a simple case of 498A or 406 IPC, permission of DCP is not required.“

Advocate Prabhjit Jauhar said the SC verdict must be celebrated in today's scenario.

“On a daily basis I come across cases where estranged wives take recourse to filing FIRs under 498A. Since the courts have now become liberal in giving bail under this section, the new trend is to insert allegations of rape or attempt to rape to get FIRs registered under 376 IPC. Wives don't even hesitate in levelling allegations against the father-inlaw for sexual misconduct when there is no direct proof of the same. In these circumstances getting bail becomes very difficult and innocent persons have to undergo incarceration for 20 days to 4 months till they are granted regular bail. Courts are saddled with dockets of anticipatory or regular bails in these cases,“ he pointed out.

However, advocate Arvind Jain disagreed with the SC verdict. He drew attention to the overall conviction rate of roughly 26% and wondered on what basis the apex court could single out arrests under 498A as problematic.

“If law is a weapon, everybody is using it. You need to appreciate that all these dowryrelated crimes are committed within four walls of the house and seldom do women have sufficient evidence to prove in court. One needs to see the complete reality that law has not been able to prevent dowry harassment and deaths. The interpretation coming from SC appears to be insensitive towards women.“

2015: frequency of misuse

The Times of India, November 8, 2015

Total and false dowry cases files, year-wise, 2011-13; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 8, 2015

Flipside to anti-dowry law: Men cry abuse 

Businessman Rajesh Varkharia thought he was waging a lonely legal battle till a chance meeting with two other dowry accused at the Bangalore trial court. “I was totally in the dark. I would just sign where the lawyer asked me to,“ he says, describing his five days in prison as an accused under IPC's Section 498A, the dowry harassment act. Varkharia and three others started Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) in 2005 to offer legal advice and assistance to men who say they have been falsely accused of demanding dowry. A decade later, the four-member NGO has over 50 chapters across the country , with 30 members adding to the strength every week, many of whom are between 32 and 35 years of age.

The fact that men are suffering from the “misuse“ of 498A is gaining traction, so much so, that the courts and the government are sitting up and taking notice. Earlier this year, the home ministry proposed amendments in the anti-dowry act on the grounds that false cases were as high as 9%. The move is to make offences of dowry demand and cruelty by husband and in-laws compoundable. (But, in Parliament, minister of state for home affairs Haribhai Parthibhai Chadhary has also added that “there is no direct evidence or study available to suggest that this (section 498A of IPC) is one of the most abused laws in the country“.) The Supreme Court too, in successive judgments, has sought to dull the provision for the immediate arrest of the husband's family . In 2005, the SC described the section as “legal terrorism.“ And in a controversial June 2014 judgment, the SC restrained the police from mechanically arresting the husband and his relatives on the mere lodging of a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC.

Citing very low conviction rate, the SC directed the state governments to instruct police “to satisfy themselves about the necessity for arrest under the parameters (check list) provided under Section 41 of criminal procedure code“. Both the law commission and the Justice Malimath Committee on Criminal Justice Reform have held that the section should be made compoundable and bailable.

Men rights groups like SIFF argue that law doesn't really protect women as it claims. “Is it just the wife who needs protection?

What about the mother-in-law, sister-in law or women relatives of the husband? Why must they suffer?“ asks Vakharia.

However, women rights lawyers say that the focus should not be the law but its implementation. “Every law is misused and there is a section of society that will misuse every kind of legal provision. Should we revoke the whole lot of them,“ asks a lawyer.

They also underline the need for police reforms. “Women are often unaware of the provisions of laws that protect them against dowry harassment or domestic violence; it is the police that might mislead them,“ says an activist.

2012: Cases registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act

Andhra Pradesh tops list in dowry cases in 2012

PTI | Feb 21, 2014

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh tops the list in Dowry cases with 2511 cases recorded in 2012 while Odisha was second with 1487 cases recorded under the Dowry Prohibition Act.

Madhya Pradesh was in the top of the list for domestic violence with 9,536 cases followed by Tamil Nadu which recorded 3,838 cases under the Domestic Violence Act 2005 in 2012 according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Karnataka (1328), Bihar (1353) and Jharkhand (1066) also reported quite a large number of dowry cases while Andhra Pradesh reported 2150 cases of domestic violence for the year 2012.

The NCRB data shows an increasing trend of dowry and domestic violence cases in most of the states barring Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura which reported zero cases under the Dowry Prohibition Act, said the Women and Child Development Ministry in its reply to the Lok Sabha today.

Similarly, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Pondicherry and Chandigarh reported zero cases of domestic violence.

Over all, a total 9038 cases under the Dowry Prohibition Act were registered in 2012 while 16309 cases under the Domestic Violence Act 2005 were registered in India for the same period.

Dowry deaths

Torture rather than timelines count

The Times of India

Mar 24 2015

MAN ON TRIAL - Court: Torture counts, not timelines in dowry deaths

While framing charges against a man for offences of domestic violence and dowry death of his wife, a trial court has said that the term “torture soon before death“ under IPC Section 304B (dowry death) is relative and there cannot be a defined time frame for it. “If a female is constantly being taunted regarding dowry in her matrimonial house, such constant taunting, even if spread over a period of months or years can indeed amount to cruelty soon before death,“ additional sessions judge Dig Vinay Singh said.

The court put the man on trial for alleged offences regarding death of his wife, who committed suicide a year after their marriage. “What is important is that what effect those tauntings had on the mind of deceased driving her to adopt the extreme step. The term `soon before her death' cannot be measured in a time frame. Whether cruelty or harassment was soon before death is a circumstance based on various factors.

For some people, a gap of one day alone may be enough for forgetting bad experiences, but for some few days or weeks may not be enough to forget and proceed further in life,“ the judge observed while putting the man on trial after he pleaded not guilty to the charges framed by the court under sections 304B and 498A (subjecting woman to cruelty) of the IPC. The court however, discharged the man's mother saying there was no prima facie evidence against her to prove the charges.

The court also dropped the charge of murder against the man and his mother, as alleged by the prosecution, saying the victim's postmortem report did not suggest she was murdered.

According to the prosecution, the victim married the accused in May 2013.The complaint was lodged by the victim's father on August 11, 2014, alleging that his son-in-law had tortured his daughter to death.

He alleged that her husband started demanding a motorcycle, and gold jewellery soon after they got married and kept harassing her for the same.

Dowry deaths

2012-14

The Times of India, Jul 31, 2015

24,771 dowry deaths reported in last 3 years: Govt

A total of 24,771 dowry deaths have been reported in the country in past three years with maximum of them occurring in Uttar Pradesh with 7,048 deaths.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, women and child development ministry Maneka Gandhi said that 8,233, 8,083, and 8,455 cases were registered under section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (Dowry Death) in the country in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Uttar Pradesh is followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh with 3,830 and 2,252 deaths during the same period.

As per National Crime Records Bureau data, the country has recorded 3.48 lakh cases of cruelty by husband or his relative and West Bengal tops the chart with 61,259 such cases in past three years, followed by Rajasthan (44,311) and Andhra Pradesh (34,835).

"Government conducts awareness generation programmes and publicity campaigns on various laws relating to women including Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 through workshops, fairs, cultural and training programmes, seminars etc," the minister said.

2016-17, a fall in number of petitions

Aditi R., Marked fall in dowry harassment petitions, July 24, 2017: The Hindu

Experts say the Supreme Court’s disapproval of ‘automatic’ arrests has rendered the relevant Act weak

There has been a significant fall in the number of dowry harassment petitions received by the Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme in 2016-17. In contrast, the previous five years saw a continuous rise in the number of cases.

In Tamil Nadu, the rules of The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 were framed and implemented in 2004. Data received by the department shows that in 2016-17, a total of 6,083 petitions were received, of which 4,696 were settled after counselling by the respective District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs), while 949 cases were referred to the local police.

The previous year, 8,583 petitions were received, of which 5,274 were counselled by the DSWOs and 1,147 were referred to the police.

Commenting on the fall in the number of cases, experts said that after the Supreme Court came down heavily on ‘automatically’ arresting the accused and directed authorities to not do so without proper investigation, section 498-A lost the sting of criminal prosecution.

This, experts claim, has in a way weakened the Act, and more victims have begun to file cases under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, instead.

K. Santhakumari, president, Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Lawyers, said that the authorities too have begun to show leniency in handling dowry cases. “Earlier, the police had the power to take action against both parties, but now no FIR is lodged,” she said.

P. Selvi, advocate, Madras High Court, said that most families file complaints under the Domestic Violence Act as it encompasses many more aspects and victims are more likely to avail fast remedies. The department has received over 31,000 petitions relating to domestic violence, of which 16,727 were resolved by protection officers and 12,865 cases were registered in court.

The bulk of both dowry and domestic violence cases is handled by the department.

“The idea is to unite the family and at the same time, inculcate a deep-rooted understanding about the implications of harassment. Only if the issue goes out of control do we refer it to the police,” the official said.

‘Piecemeal information’

Activists, on the other hand, say that the data provides piecemeal information and covers only a fraction of the actual number of cases. “Several cases are directly reported to the local police stations or are handled in kangaroo courts. I know of women who have been forced to resort to their own means by running between lawyers and probation officers. While the Mahila Court brings in some degree of justice, the large cases go on endlessly,” said Sujata Mody, president of the Pengal Thozhilalar Sangam.

Awareness campaigns

The department plans to set up helpdesks in all districts where the public will be informed about the provisions of various laws with regard to dowry harassment, child marriage prohibition and related issues.

A sum of ₹2 crore has been allotted for the same. Officers in charge of the desks will organise caravan campaigns and distribute information, education and communication materials to the public.

“The desks will be set up in six months,” said an official from the department.

See also

Dowry-related crimes: India <> Dowry: Pakistan <> Dowry prohibition laws: India