2025 has pulled the curtain back on a grim and haunting reality that has long been ignored—the rising number of husband murders in India. These aren’t just tragic footnotes in the larger discourse on gender and crime; they are the cries of invisible victims, muffled by the overwhelming noise of one-sided narratives. What once seemed rare is now emerging as an alarming pattern—husbands being tortured, murdered, or driven to suicide, often at the hands of their wives and, in many cases, their illicit partners.
What’s more disturbing? Our legal and social systems are not just unprepared—they’re willfully blind.
When the Law Becomes the Weapon
The Indian Penal Code’s Section 498a, initially designed to curb cruelty against women, has for decades been misused to trap innocent men in false cases of dowry and domestic violence. But now, the misuse has turned deadly. In several recent cases, husbands have lost their lives, not to accidental circumstances but to premeditated murder, mental torture, and systemic apathy.
Despite this, there is no institutional acknowledgement of this rising trend. The law, instead of acting as a shield, has turned into a sword in the hands of abusers who exploit legal loopholes.
A System Built on Assumptions
There’s a tragic duality here:
- There is no specific law that protects men from domestic violence.
- There is no dedicated helpline, shelter, or grievance redressal system for male victims.
Why? Because of the deeply entrenched belief that men cannot be victims. Society, media, and even the judiciary have primarily operated under the assumption that abuse has a gender, and that gender is not male. When a woman cries, the world listens. When a man bleeds, it laughs, dismisses, or turns away.
The Urgent Need for Reform
If India truly believes in justice and equality, it is time to reimagine our legal and social structures. This is not about creating a gender war. It is about creating a balanced legal framework—one that protects the innocent, regardless of gender.
Here’s what must change immediately:
- Gender-Neutral Laws: Replace the term “woman” with “person” in all laws related to domestic violence, sexual harassment, and assault. Equality begins with equal language.
- Men’s Protection Commissions: Just as we have the National Commission for Women, it is time to establish National and State Commissions for Men, with investigative powers, legal backing, and advisory roles.
- Male Helplines and Shelters: Every man in distress deserves a safe space. There must be dedicated helplines, rehabilitation centres, and shelters for men facing abuse, threats, or emotional trauma.
- Accountability for False Allegations: Filing false cases must carry strict criminal penalties. Fast-track courts should dismiss these malicious cases and prosecute the accusers.
- Mandatory Investigation in Husband Deaths: Every unnatural death of a husband, especially under suspicious domestic circumstances, must undergo a mandatory, unbiased investigation. These should not be casually written off as suicide or accidents without due process.
Justice Without Bias
A man’s life is no less valuable. His pain is no less real. His trauma is no less valid.
It’s not just about rights anymore—it’s about life and death. And when innocent men are dying, our silence becomes complicity.
Justice cannot afford to be gender-biased. It must be blind to gender but sharp in fairness. It must speak up not only when a woman is wronged but also when a man is buried, broken, or betrayed.
The Road Ahead
Let us not wait for more names to be added to a growing list of dead or broken husbands. Let us not build a country where one gender’s suffering is spotlighted and another’s is buried in silence.
This is not revenge. This is not retaliation.
This is a call for balance, for reason, for reform.
Let us strive for a truly gender-equal India—where every cry matters, every life counts, and justice serves all, without prejudice.