Friday, April 13th, 2007

Time	Event
3:08p	Bangalore: Asking Wife to Mend Ways is not Cruelty, Rules High Court Bangalore: Asking Wife to Mend Ways is not Cruelty, Rules High Court Bangalore Apr 9: There is this general complaint among men that laws tilt towards women. However, here is a judgment that should put a smile on the faces of men. The High Court, in an interesting ruling, has held that ‘reprimanding’ one’s wife to mend her ways would not amount to cruelty or dowry harassment. The instant case dealt with an appeal by the State government against an order of acquittal. A man from Bangalore was booked under the Dowry Prohibition Act after his wife had committed suicide. The prosecution contended that the woman was driven to suicide as she was unable to bear the harassment meted out to her with relation to dowry. Following the incident, the police booked the husband under the Dowry Prohibition Act. The defence by the husband was that he had only reprimanded her several times since she needed to mend her ways. Upset by this, the woman committed suicide, he added. He also contended that there was no dowry harassment involved in the case. Justice K Sreedhar Rao while rejecting the appeal by the State, observed that advising the wife to be "more compatible" with the family and to take an interest in domestic chores cannot be considered an act of cruelty. "In a social set-up of family, it is necessary that everyone in the family evinces equal amount of interest in the welfare and well-being of family. In this case, the deceased having led a marital life for seven years with two children before committing suicide, itself suggests her careless and unmotherly attitude." On the charge of dowry, the court observed that when a charge under Section 498-A is levelled, it is mandatory that the prosecution establishes the cruelty was perpetrated on the wife and the same was of such a nature that it had driven the woman to suicide. http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=32215&n_tit=Bangalore%3A++Asking+Wife+to+Mend+Ways+is+not+Cruelty%2C+Rules+High+Court (Comment on this)
3:17p	Looks like it is Chennai's turn now !! Looks like it is Chennai's turn now !! Complaints pour in from men about raw deal at all-women police stations L. Srikrishna Petitioners allege harassment, threats if they reject `settlement terms' CHENNAI : The incidence of high-handed behaviour by officers of all-women police stations appears to be on the rise, if the number of petitions received by the City Police Commissioner's office is any indication. The complaints range from mistreatment to outright threats of foisting dowry harassment cases if the petitioners failed to accept the `settlement terms' offered by the policewomen. A young man, accompanied by his parents, recently approached Commissioner Letika Saran complaining that women police personnel were threatening to jail them on charges of dowry harassment. He alleged that his wife had tortured his parents and demanded that they return everything she had brought into the house during the marriage. Some 400 petitions are received every year from women by the 35 all-women police stations in the city. The most common complaint is that of torture and harassment by their husbands and in-laws for more dowry. On receipt of such petitions, the investigating officers summon both the parties. The proceedings — which are described as fair and transparent by women and their relatives — are apparently not so for the men who allege being rebuked, abused and threatened. A senior woman police officer told The Hindu on Tuesday that the investigations were conducted as per the law. Nearly 75 per cent of the cases were amicably settled at the petition stage itself, she added. The official said legal remedy was resorted to only if counselling by experts and their efforts to achieve a consensus between the two sides failed. Joint Commissioner of Police (North) M. Ravi said the `compromise watch' register showed that police handled the complaints effectively, as per the law. In fact, after a case was treated as settled, the investigating officers monitored it closely and ensured there was no repeat of the alleged harassment. Advocate Abudu Kumar Rajarathinam said family disputes should be sent for mediation before any arrest is made. A qualified social worker or an experienced lawyer has a better chance of getting a mutually agreeable result, as it is a sensitive issue, he said. Matrimonial disputes involve family sentiments, and once a person in the family is arrested, the scope for settlement is totally lost, he pointed out. Another advocate said that in many cases, policewomen misled the victims to alter the complaint in a manner that forced the men involved to seek anticipatory bail. http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/04/stories/2007040423520300.htm (Comment on this)

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