Many questions related to dowry and its allegations often can be heard. It is a social evil, there is no doubt in it. And the scenario is turning worse for not women but for men. Yes, you read it right. Any allegation made by woman against her husband or in-laws is taken seriously. Being introduced with the objective to provide women a shield a protect themselves, modern age women are misusing it as they are using it as a weapon instead of a shield. It is one of the major reasons behind spiking number of cases related to dowry and domestic violence. Most of such cases are fabricated or concocted with the intention to torture men or settling their personal scores. Due to many scary results of false dowry, dv or rape cases, men have fear in case of such matters. Almost 99% percent of men who face dowry, or 498A charges, belong to the class of men who have never been accused of any crime in their life.
And further even there is a whole ecosystem of fear which is created deliberately by some social forces so that they can reap the benefits of that fear. A whole 498A ecosystem consisting of lawyers, feminists, law enforcement officers, media and of course women and their family, is silently active in our society to benefit itself the most by the fear created. The most important thing that an individual must remember that the more you get scared, the more money they will make. Another thing that you must also understand that the objective of your wife or in-laws is to extort money from you, not sending you to jail. They aim to profit from your fears and your way of dealing with your fear of a legal case like harassment or domestic violence.
What fears do men accused under section 498a usually have?
The men are mostly afraid that they will have to go to jail, or at least spend some days in police custody or the police will raid their homes. And they are also afraid of their parents or other family members will have to suffer. Mostly their elderly parents may get stress inficting by the things going around their son. In short, they have a fear of an uncertain future of their dear ones who are dependent of them. It is one of the main reasons of their future.
Similar to other human beings, they also fear of getting beaten or tortured by the police during interrogation or custody. One of the topmost cause of their fear is that their reputation will get tarnished and people will start looking down upon them. Due to their bad publicity in the media, they might lose their reputation among their business partners or associates as well as customers. The core worrisome thing is the mental torture that they might face due to sympathetic behaviour towards females and seeing males always as a culprit. Due to which, somewhere our judiciary is biased in favor of wives due to which they may not succeed in getting anticipatory bail thus may have to spend a prolonged period in jail.
Such men also afraid of after beginning of the litigation process of their case. After some hearings or as their case progresses, they soon start realising that understanding the complexities of the legal rigmarole is a highly complicated process involving unexpected expenses, unnecessary time consumption, and spoiling of relations with people whom they expect help from. Those men become so negative as they even think that the lawyer representing their case isn’t making his best efforts and may be supporting the other party secretly.
What men with allegations of dowry/dv cases do out of their fear?
In majority of such cases, men lose their jobs as their performance significantly gets lower due to the stress they deal with at this phase. Most of such men lose their mental health. Due to which, many of them start drinking, smoking or get into other forms of substance abuse. One of the main reasons behind such illegal drug abuse is that even before the court decides whether a man is really accused or the case of dowry/domestic violence is concocted, the society starts behaving with the men like real culprits. Witnessing the body language of the people in the society, the alleged men start withdrawing themselves from the society and start living a life of loneliness. They get truly disheartened and no more courage left to find love in another woman just because of the consequences of the earlier marriage they are dealing with. They also make compromises and get agreed on paying a huge amount of money to get rid of their wives; the soul aim is to reduce the regular traumatic conditions that they have to face due to litigation process. As the case goes for a long time, they end up losing money to lawyers due to unfavorable judgements. Along with that, they are concerned about their parents, their stress, their needs, their health and thus not only the alleged men but their family members also lose their peace of mind. In extreme cases, the husband’s family has to witness irreversible loss i.e. suicide of the man booked under Section 498a. Sometimes, families also witness more than one suicide of its members.
Should such fears be taken?
The short answer is, No! If you are afraid of such cases, it is the worst punishment that men will have to undergo. It means that the fear of a case filed under Section 498a is manageable by practicing fearing less, acting a little more and practice ways to relax your mind and body. As you are not alone in this phase of struggle. Though the lawmakers and the media may be blind to see your demand for justice, the public, the judiciary, your dear ones, and men’s rights movements are in your favour. You are not alone in this battle so there is no such a big thing to be worried about it. During the process, men dealing with this form of cases, not only lose their old friends but also gain new friends; due to which you may start accepting the situation and becoming mentally tough. As a result, you will grow even at this worst phase of life.
Now, when it comes to the fear of getting scared about beaten by the police, it’s not the real face in every case, it happens only in extreme cases. Instead of getting beaten at the police station, you will be treated well as they will offer you a chair to sit every time when you visit police station. There won’t be any raid at your house until it is one of the rarest of the rare case. In order to protect yourself from such issues, always remember to not to accept any jewellery items from your future or next wife. Don’t make mistake of storing jewellery at home as it may attract trouble.
In case of anticipatory bail, you may be succeeded in getting one if your social behaviour is ideal or not unsocial. If you don’t give up, your case may go on for years thus you are away from any jail-term so don’t be fear it.
And while choosing a lawyer, be sensible and take reference from your friends and opt for the best one. Don’t make your fear a ground to choose a lawyer in hurry as you have fear of getting arrested.
Also, be wise while negotiating with your wife for the settlement amount. Don’t agree on their terms, instead try to settle at a lower amount.
These days, the scenarios have changed due to increasing number of false rape cases that are being filed for the sake of extorting money. As a result, women are seen as a culprit these days as they would have filed a false case of dowry/domestic violence just to seek a huge amount from her husband or properties.
Another favourable thing for such men is that there are numerous men rights’ organizations these days that can help you fight case of dowry or domestic violence filed against you.