Women are misusing domestic violence laws to force husbands to comply with unreasonable demands: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court noted that the provision of Section 498A IPC has become a legal weapon for wives and their relatives to settle scores with the husband and his family. The SC made the comments while quashing a cruelty case against a Telangana man and his family members.
At a time when the suicide of a Bengaluru techie over alleged harassment by his estranged wife and her family is making headlines, the Supreme Court has observed that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalises cruelty by husbands and their relatives against married women, is being misused.
SC expresses concern over misuse of domestic violence law
The SC made the comments on Tuesday while quashing a cruelty case against a Telangana man and his family members, filed by his estranged wife.
CREDIT: BCCL
The SC bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and N. Kotiswar Singh noted that the provision of Section 498A IPC has become a legal weapon for wives and their relatives to settle scores with the husband and his family, without understanding the true purpose of the provision brought to curb cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband and his family, ensuring swift intervention by the State.
The court further said that the law is being misused to arm-twist the husband to make him comply with the unreasonable demands of a wife.
CREDIT: PEXALS
Death of Atul Subhash
Atul Subhash, a native of UP, died by suicide in Bengaluru on Monday after accusing his estranged wife of harassment and extortion.
In his 24-page-long suicide note, Subhash alleged that his estranged wife had filed multiple false cases against him and his family members. The 34-year-old further alleged that the wife was seeking Rs 3 crore from him to withdraw the cases.
40 trips between Bengaluru and Jaunpur
Subhash's family claimed that the victim was forced to travel from Bengaluru to Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh at least 40 times to deal with the nine cases his wife had filed against him.
CREDIT: X/ Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj
FIR against wife
Following Subhash's death, which has resulted in massive protests online seeking justice for him, a case has been filed against his wife and her family members on charges of abetment of suicide.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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