Fake Allegations On Men: Impact, Outcomes And Causes
In recent years the men's mental health have been under a great strain due to
gender biases in Indian legal system. The condition of men can be understood in
today's world through the fact that we need to create a whole month for the
men's mental health that too is not known to all so the question is the really
any respect of men in Indian society or the men is just a puppet and he can be
easily trapped in any fake accusations and there is no one to hear his bawl. It
feels so sorrowful to see that on one hand India is leading towards equality and
on the other hand there is not a single provision in Indian law concerning
protection of men from these false accusations or if there are any, are they
being exercised persistently.
This article critically examines the impact of these accusations on men's mental health, highlighting the lack of legal recourse available to them.
The introduction Of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) further cemented the notion of absence of any provisions in Indian legal framework for protection of men against any false allegation. Current laws regarding the offences of Rape and Assault comes under the ambit of chapter of offences against women and children, so does that clearly mean that men are not subject to any harassment or assault committed by women, this critically raise the question on legal protection available for men who face harassment or assault, or those falsely accused. Via this article we argue that regardless of gender ratio the laws should be gender neutral; and should not be gender centric or inclined towards any particular gender.
Through a sociological lens, this article scrutinizes whether the current gender-biased legal approach effectively addresses the issues it aims to solve, and what implications this has for societal equality. The study concludes with a call for a more balanced legal system that ensures justice and mental well-being for all genders, emphasizing the necessity of neutral laws to prevent further marginalization and psychological distress among men.
Introduction:
#metoo movement a very impactful and sincere initiative that aided several female victims of rape, sexual harassment, assault, or any other offence harming the women psychologically or physically. No doubt this movement proved to be a turning stone in the society, various men too took part in it making all endeavours to support their female friends, colleagues, their sisters, daughters, wives. This was a time when the concept of gender-neutral crime struggled to find a space.
During this period, the idea of gender-neutral crime was struggling to gain attention, and people turned to social media to raise awareness about the reality that men can also be victims of sexual assault, rather than just being seen as predators of sexual assault. The world is yet not ready to acknowledge men as victims of sexual assault as it seems to them as a very obscure act, but little do they know. Even after several efforts made on social media and through different journals the society and legal framework fails to recognize men as a potential victim of sexual assault and harassment.
The introduction of new legislations has worsened the condition as the new laws were expected to be more diverse and gender neutral but this was not so, instead it came with gender biases embedded in it. The BNS wile aimed at reforming criminal laws was highly criticised for its clauses being women centric and only protects the women sometimes even at the cost of complete ignorance of male victims.
The current legal framework in India, as exemplified by the BNS 2023, fails to adequately protect men from false accusations and does not provide sufficient recognition of male victims of sexual assault[1].
This gender biasness in laws even fails to comply with the fundamental rights that are embedded in the Indian constitution, diminishing the meaning of rights to men. This further prevents the male victims from coming forward or discussing their grievance.
By documented definition, sexual assault is an "illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent (as because of age or physical or mental incapacity) or who places the assailant (such as a doctor) in a position of trust or authority" (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)[2]. According to this definition, this person who faces the assault can be anyone, irrespective of the gender or sex. But somehow the society has assumed that this is always a woman and the man is predominantly always the predator.
The traditional gender stereotypes portray women as submissive and passive and men as dominant and assertive. Due to this stereotype the women are the only victims as they are weak and men can never be victim as they are physically strong and able to defend such attacks.
Such stereotypes block the contemplations that women are the perpetrators and men being victim. This however resists the men from reporting such crimes against them as they presume that by reporting such incidents their masculinity would be questioned and be made fun of.
This in turn harms their mental health as well as the sexual health in devastating ways.
Literature Review:
The laws are made in order to safeguard and uplift the rights and dignity of individuals. India has made substantial progress where it comes to framing laws aiming to protect and promote women rights, India has initiated various programs to publicize women empowerment such as:
Some Schemes Initiated By Indian Government[1]:
The Indian legal framework has always been influenced by cultural and societal norms visualizing women as vulnerable to certain class of offences resulting in legislating certain gender specific provisions in various statutes. For instance, under chapter -v of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 there are harsh penal provisions for rape, assault and dowry death and so on, however these legislative steps were important to be taken by the governing body of the country.
But there are certain provisions which are no as just and fair as they are supposedly meant to be.
Sec 69 Of BNS, 2023 can be taken as a worthy reference regarding how the penal provisions can become weapon for alleging false cases.
However, before enactment of BNS,2023 Sec 376 was used,
In the last few years, we have witnessed multiple cases where women file fake rape cases against men after a breakup. Undoubtedly, there are a vast number of rape cases in India and the accused are believed to go unreported. But it cannot be denied that women often file cases against their respective partners once consensual relationships turn sour.
The chief of Chhattisgarh's women's commission, Kiranmayee Nayak, had once mentioned, "If a married man lures a girl into an affair, she must understand whether the man is lying to them and whether he will help them survive or not. If that is not the case, both of them, mostly the women, approach the police."
She further added, "In most of the cases, girls have a consensual relationship, a live-in setup and then file an FIR (First Information Report) for rape after separation."
In addition to the above statements, the Delhi High Court had observed in 2017 that "This court had observed on number of occasions that the number of cases where both persons, out of their own will and choice, develop consensual physical relationship, when the relationship breaks up due to some reason, the women use the law as a weapon for vengeance and personal vendetta."
It further added, "They tend to convert such consensual acts as an incidents of rape may be out of anger and frustration thereby defeating the very purpose of the provision. This requires a clear demarcation between the rape and consensual sex especially in the case where complaint is that consent had been given on promise of marriage."
Notably, the court's ruling came while denying the plea of a 29-year-old woman, who had filed a case against her husband, seeking action in the rape case before marrying the man in 2015.
False rape cases filed for the nefarious agenda have become a menace to the nation. It vindicates the weaker position of Indian men in the judicial system today which considers women as the victims and men as the aggressors. The laws meant to protect genuine victims are being misused by some opportunistic women. It is high time people realize that crime has no gender and before convicting a man on false accusations, investigations need to be done thoroughly[1].
A case of sodomy, which is the only act under Section 377 which protects men from male-on-male rape, took place in Muzaffarnagar, a 10-year-old boy was sodomized by a youth in his Muzaffarnagar district. No efforts have been made by the police to bring justice to the boy who was sodomized, and the accused is still walking free (Mehta, n.d.). According to the reports of The Centre for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) Nearly 1 in 38 males have experienced complete or attempted rape in his lifetime (Mehta, n.d.)[2].
In a majority of false allegation cases, a person intentionally lies about being the victim of rape or sexual assault. Not only do they falsely claim to have been victimized, they may go so far as to file a police report. This false report can then progress further to the criminal prosecution of an innocent person in a sexual assault or rape case.
Though unthinkable, there exist a myriad of reasons why a person might falsely report a rape or sexual assault. Some of the more common of ulterior motivations we encounter include:
What is most concerning is that the person completely loses his self-confidence and self-esteem. Apart from social and financial harassment, men and their families also face psychological harassment. According to a study conducted by K Brooks and Greenberg (2020), "of the 30 participants, 19 felt they had experienced permanent changes to their personality, such as becoming paranoid and anxious (60%), hypervigilant or antagonistic (50%) and less confident (53.3%)…Along with changes in personality, participants also experienced various other losses related to their sense of self, for example loss of dignity and credibility, loss of image of the self as a doting parent and loss of hope and purpose for the future."
Many slip into depression, develop anxiety, become hostile and insensitive towards the outside world. They feel that since nobody cared for them, they too need not care about anyone else. These allegations leave an everlasting impact on the minds of these men and some men commits suicide out of trauma and depression as many of them get fired from their jobs and it becomes hell for them to live like this, several men find difficulty in getting jobs even when they are innocent.
In the year 2021, Deepak Sangwan, a resident of Dwarka, Delhi, committed suicide by shooting himself in the neck. He left behind a note alleging that a false rape case had been lodged against him by a female and her father.
Sandeep, a 30-year-old Farukh Nagar resident allegedly died by suicide after being framed by a family residing in Rajasthan. According to his family, Sandeep had lent Rs. 3 lakhs to Saheb Singh and had been demanding his money back from him for several months. Instead of returning the borrowed money, Saheb Singh kept demanding more and more money from Sandeep and also filed a false rape case against him. This caused great mental trauma to Sandeep due to which he hanged himself from a tree in the premises of a school in his resident town. Just before committing the act of suicide, Sandeep made a phone call to his uncle Muneesh, telling him that he had written a suicide note. According to the suicide note, Sandeep blamed Saheb Singh and his family for the suicide[1].
A deep dive into the numbers reveals a concerning trend of increasing false rape cases. In 2017, when a total of 46,984 rape cases were under investigation, 2,556 cases were found to be false. The percentage of false cases in 2017 stood at 5.4%. Over the past five years, while there has been no significant increase in actual rape cases, there has been a 55% rise in falsely reported rape cases.
Cases of violence by husbands and relatives accounted for 3.6% (6,938), while cases of abduction and forced captivity of women made up 9.1% (11,680). Additionally, cases involving assaults or the use of criminal force with intent to outrage the modesty of a woman amounted to 5.4% (6,764) of the false cases.
5.8 % of Crime Against Women cases are False (2021)[2]
'LET HER EARN' this reminds all of us about the most recent and well known trending case lodged in Karnataka High Court, this case however signifies a novel mode of harassing the husband or the male partner by asking for such an amount of money as maintenance that the justice themselves mentioned "let her earn".
The Karnataka High Court judge, Justice Lalitha Kanneganti, refused to entertain the wife's request, citing the exorbitant amount as unreasonable. The judge asked the wife's advocate to come up with a more reasonable figure, stating, "Does anybody spend this much, a single lady for herself, if she wants to spend let her earn, not on the husband."
This case highlights the potential misuse of provisions under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which is meant to provide financial support to dependent spouses during ongoing legal disputes. The judge's decision serves as a reminder to spouses seeking maintenance to be reasonable in their demands and to prioritize their financial responsibilities.
Prateek Bansal vs The State of Rajasthan & Ors in Criminal Appeal No. of 2024 (Special Leave to Petition (Crl.) No.2520 OF 2017) and cited in Neutral Citation No.: 2024 INSC 324 a landmark judgement revealing another case of wife and her family harassed husband by filing case against husband in different states, some brief facts of the case are mentioned hereinafter:
Hon'ble supreme court on 19 April 2024 passed in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment in the exercise of its criminal appellate jurisdiction has imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakhs on a wife's father for lodging a false Section 498A IPC case at different places against the husband to harass him by facing trial at different places.
It must be noted that the Bench of Apex Court comprising of Hon'ble Mr Justice Vikram Nath and Hon'ble Mr Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra minced just no words to hold that:
"We thus deprecate this practice of state machinery being misused for ulterior motives and for causing harassment to the other side (husband), we are thus inclined to impose cost on respondent No.2 (wife's father) in order to compensate the appellant (husband)." It was also specified by the top court that out of the Rs 5 lakhs cost, Rs 2.5 lakhs will be given to the appellant (husband) and the rest would be transmitted in the account of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee which shall be deposited with the Registrar of Apex Court within four weeks. The Apex Court thus allowed the husband's appeal and quashed the pending FIR at Udaipur.
Most significantly and most remarkably, the Bench mandates in para 11 that, "In the facts and circumstances as recorded above, we are of the view that respondent Nos. 2 and 3 had been misusing their official position by lodging complaints one after the other. Further, their conduct of neither appearing before the Trial Court at Hisar nor withdrawing their complaint at Hisar, would show that their only intention was to harass the appellant by first making him face a trial at Hisar and then again at Udaipur.
It would also be relevant to note that the appellant had been arrested and thereafter granted bail. And now before this Court, the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 have been vehemently opposing the quashing of the FIR at Udaipur. We may also note that in the complaint made at Hisar, there are allegations to the effect that when respondent No.2 visited the appellant at Hisar, he had made a demand of Rs. 50,00,000/- and also an Innova Car. Thus, the argument that no offence was committed in Hisar but only at Udaipur was also not correct. We thus deprecate this practice of state machinery being misused for ulterior motives and for causing harassment to the other side, we are thus inclined to impose cost on the respondent No.2 in order to compensate the appellant."
Finally and as a corollary, the Bench then concludes by holding in para 12 that:
"In view of the above, the appeal is allowed. The impugned order passed by the High Court is quashed, and the impugned proceedings registered as FIR No. 156 of 2015 dated 01.11.2015, Women Police Station, Udaipur are quashed with costs of Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rs. Five Lacs Only) which shall be deposited with the Registrar of this Court within four weeks and upon deposit of the same, 50% may be transmitted in the account of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and the remaining 50% to the appellant."
There can be no gainsaying that it is high time and Centre must make the necessary amendments in rape laws and dowry laws and so also in all the women safety laws which are so often misused many times by the women and her relatives by falsely implicating the men and his parents and relatives which should certainly no longer now be allowed to go unpunished, unaccounted and unhindered under any circumstances any longer and those lodging vexatious and false complaints must be made to pay very huge compensation and should be jailed also for a term of two to three years at least and similarly where the Court finds clearly that the investigating officer intentionally conducts a mala fide and biased investigation to deliberately frame innocents must be punished most strictly including jail term for few years! There can be no denying that if Judges rule like in this leading case law then no women or her relatives will ever dare to abuse laws meant for the safety of women![3]
Another brutal incident took place in Delhi named as Jasleen Kaur Harassment case August, 2015 where jasleen Kaur falsely alleged on Sarvjeet Singh Bedi a resident of Delhi of her harassment at a traffic light mentioning further that Singh passed obscene comments on her. In the meantime, he faces several brutal consequences for a non-existent act that left him helpless, he was called by several tags such as National Pervert Or Delhi Ka Darinda (Delhi's predator). SINGH lost his job his whole family was so traumatized that his father faced heart attack his mother's health also went down drastically, moreover Singh was unable to hire an advocate for himself, later in time after the incident, an eyewitness vouched for Singh's innocence which brought credibility to Singh's account. In October 2019, an Indian court acquitted Singh of all the charges and he was held innocent. Sarvjeet Singh filed a petition seeking criminal enquiry against Kaur for false accusations, which was later dismissed by Delhi High Court[1].
This incident depicts how the Indian legal framework is gender biased that a person who has not even committed an act has to face several brutal and devastating consequences on the other hand the person who made various refuted allegations is Enjoying life unencumbered, and case was lodged against that person under section 211(IPC, 1860) or under section 182 and 250 (CrPC, 1973)
Conclusion
In order to uplift one section of society we need not to oppress other, otherwise this will then defeat the aim of equality in the form of fundamental right, if this would be the case then it's the clear denial of fundamental rights to the men. It should be understood that the concept of visualizing women as as the sole victims which so entrenched in our society, holds no water as women have came a long way ahead and in present scenario not lagging behind.
In all this can be said that the present legal framework is gender biased whose advantage is taken by a particular section of women very efficiently against their own male partners in order to compel them to meet their unreasonable and baseless demands and in certain cases it is seen that women weaponised these laws against their own children or father.
The exploitation of these laws by women and their families not only harms the lives of those falsely accused but also undermines the authenticity of genuine cases, resulting in losing sight of the fight for the justice.
Empowering one group at the expense of the other often cultivates the crops of coercion and manipulation. The social stigma and everlasting impact on the reputation of the men creates the urgent requirements for reforming a new gender-neutral laws.
The legal framework should be such that it ensures that the justice is not inclined towards any particular gender, we can create a legal system that upholds the rights of all, regardless of gender.
The gender neutral laws are not a new concept there already exist several countries where there are laws where no specific gender is targeted such as:
In the United Kingdom, "Protection from Harassment Act, 1997 is gender impartial as it explains prohibition of harassment by stating:
"A person must not pursue a code of conduct which amounts to harassment of the other…".(Pathak, 2020). We can notice that none of the genders are specifically mentioned here. The Act applies equally to both the genders.
Similarly, in South Africa, "The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act of 2007 has declared rape and sexual assault as act of 'any person' thus framing it gender neutral…Again, the Domestic Violence Act, 1998 defined complainant as "any person who is or has been in domestic relationship with the respondent." which is a practical fairness approach" (Pathak, 2020)[1].
These are some fair examples that how by making certain linguistic changes in the laws we can make huge differences.
In conclusion it would be worthy mentioning that the current legal framework while correctly aimed at protecting women, need some reformation to prevent its misuse by particular section. Implementation of gender-neutral laws would recognized as the most important step towards building a nation where equality is not merely a word but it is truly implemented via provisions of the laws. We should aim a building a society where interest of all are taken care of regardless of the gender. This step would not only help in confronting the immediate issue of false accusation but would also encourage equality and fairness for all.
End Notes:
This article critically examines the impact of these accusations on men's mental health, highlighting the lack of legal recourse available to them.
The introduction Of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) further cemented the notion of absence of any provisions in Indian legal framework for protection of men against any false allegation. Current laws regarding the offences of Rape and Assault comes under the ambit of chapter of offences against women and children, so does that clearly mean that men are not subject to any harassment or assault committed by women, this critically raise the question on legal protection available for men who face harassment or assault, or those falsely accused. Via this article we argue that regardless of gender ratio the laws should be gender neutral; and should not be gender centric or inclined towards any particular gender.
Through a sociological lens, this article scrutinizes whether the current gender-biased legal approach effectively addresses the issues it aims to solve, and what implications this has for societal equality. The study concludes with a call for a more balanced legal system that ensures justice and mental well-being for all genders, emphasizing the necessity of neutral laws to prevent further marginalization and psychological distress among men.
Introduction:
#metoo movement a very impactful and sincere initiative that aided several female victims of rape, sexual harassment, assault, or any other offence harming the women psychologically or physically. No doubt this movement proved to be a turning stone in the society, various men too took part in it making all endeavours to support their female friends, colleagues, their sisters, daughters, wives. This was a time when the concept of gender-neutral crime struggled to find a space.
During this period, the idea of gender-neutral crime was struggling to gain attention, and people turned to social media to raise awareness about the reality that men can also be victims of sexual assault, rather than just being seen as predators of sexual assault. The world is yet not ready to acknowledge men as victims of sexual assault as it seems to them as a very obscure act, but little do they know. Even after several efforts made on social media and through different journals the society and legal framework fails to recognize men as a potential victim of sexual assault and harassment.
The introduction of new legislations has worsened the condition as the new laws were expected to be more diverse and gender neutral but this was not so, instead it came with gender biases embedded in it. The BNS wile aimed at reforming criminal laws was highly criticised for its clauses being women centric and only protects the women sometimes even at the cost of complete ignorance of male victims.
The current legal framework in India, as exemplified by the BNS 2023, fails to adequately protect men from false accusations and does not provide sufficient recognition of male victims of sexual assault[1].
This gender biasness in laws even fails to comply with the fundamental rights that are embedded in the Indian constitution, diminishing the meaning of rights to men. This further prevents the male victims from coming forward or discussing their grievance.
By documented definition, sexual assault is an "illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent (as because of age or physical or mental incapacity) or who places the assailant (such as a doctor) in a position of trust or authority" (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)[2]. According to this definition, this person who faces the assault can be anyone, irrespective of the gender or sex. But somehow the society has assumed that this is always a woman and the man is predominantly always the predator.
The traditional gender stereotypes portray women as submissive and passive and men as dominant and assertive. Due to this stereotype the women are the only victims as they are weak and men can never be victim as they are physically strong and able to defend such attacks.
Such stereotypes block the contemplations that women are the perpetrators and men being victim. This however resists the men from reporting such crimes against them as they presume that by reporting such incidents their masculinity would be questioned and be made fun of.
This in turn harms their mental health as well as the sexual health in devastating ways.
Literature Review:
The laws are made in order to safeguard and uplift the rights and dignity of individuals. India has made substantial progress where it comes to framing laws aiming to protect and promote women rights, India has initiated various programs to publicize women empowerment such as:
Some Schemes Initiated By Indian Government[1]:
- Women Entrepreneurship Fund Scheme 2020
- Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry Schemes
- Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme 2015
- Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme 2017
- Dowry Laws: While designed to combat dowry-related harassment, Section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code has often been used as a tool for extortion and false accusations against husbands and their families. Many argue that the lack of stringent penalties for false complaints has encouraged its misuse.
- Domestic Violence Act: The Domestic Violence Act was enacted to provide protection to women facing domestic abuse. However, it has also been misused to harass innocent family members, including elderly parents and distant relatives, in domestic disputes.
- Sexual Harassment Act: The Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (POSH) Act was enacted to create safe workplaces for women. Some cases have emerged where women have falsely accused colleagues or superiors for settling personal scores.
- Rape Laws: Although stringent rape laws are essential to protect women against sexual violence, there have been instances of false accusations for personal vendettas or financial gains.
- Misuse of Child Custody Laws: In cases of divorce and child custody battles, some women misuse laws favoring mothers to gain sole custody of children, regardless of the child's best interests.
The Indian legal framework has always been influenced by cultural and societal norms visualizing women as vulnerable to certain class of offences resulting in legislating certain gender specific provisions in various statutes. For instance, under chapter -v of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 there are harsh penal provisions for rape, assault and dowry death and so on, however these legislative steps were important to be taken by the governing body of the country.
But there are certain provisions which are no as just and fair as they are supposedly meant to be.
Sec 69 Of BNS, 2023 can be taken as a worthy reference regarding how the penal provisions can become weapon for alleging false cases.
However, before enactment of BNS,2023 Sec 376 was used,
In the last few years, we have witnessed multiple cases where women file fake rape cases against men after a breakup. Undoubtedly, there are a vast number of rape cases in India and the accused are believed to go unreported. But it cannot be denied that women often file cases against their respective partners once consensual relationships turn sour.
The chief of Chhattisgarh's women's commission, Kiranmayee Nayak, had once mentioned, "If a married man lures a girl into an affair, she must understand whether the man is lying to them and whether he will help them survive or not. If that is not the case, both of them, mostly the women, approach the police."
She further added, "In most of the cases, girls have a consensual relationship, a live-in setup and then file an FIR (First Information Report) for rape after separation."
In addition to the above statements, the Delhi High Court had observed in 2017 that "This court had observed on number of occasions that the number of cases where both persons, out of their own will and choice, develop consensual physical relationship, when the relationship breaks up due to some reason, the women use the law as a weapon for vengeance and personal vendetta."
It further added, "They tend to convert such consensual acts as an incidents of rape may be out of anger and frustration thereby defeating the very purpose of the provision. This requires a clear demarcation between the rape and consensual sex especially in the case where complaint is that consent had been given on promise of marriage."
Notably, the court's ruling came while denying the plea of a 29-year-old woman, who had filed a case against her husband, seeking action in the rape case before marrying the man in 2015.
False rape cases filed for the nefarious agenda have become a menace to the nation. It vindicates the weaker position of Indian men in the judicial system today which considers women as the victims and men as the aggressors. The laws meant to protect genuine victims are being misused by some opportunistic women. It is high time people realize that crime has no gender and before convicting a man on false accusations, investigations need to be done thoroughly[1].
A case of sodomy, which is the only act under Section 377 which protects men from male-on-male rape, took place in Muzaffarnagar, a 10-year-old boy was sodomized by a youth in his Muzaffarnagar district. No efforts have been made by the police to bring justice to the boy who was sodomized, and the accused is still walking free (Mehta, n.d.). According to the reports of The Centre for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) Nearly 1 in 38 males have experienced complete or attempted rape in his lifetime (Mehta, n.d.)[2].
In a majority of false allegation cases, a person intentionally lies about being the victim of rape or sexual assault. Not only do they falsely claim to have been victimized, they may go so far as to file a police report. This false report can then progress further to the criminal prosecution of an innocent person in a sexual assault or rape case.
Though unthinkable, there exist a myriad of reasons why a person might falsely report a rape or sexual assault. Some of the more common of ulterior motivations we encounter include:
- Revenge
- Material (monetary) gain
- To create an alibi
- To express regret
- To generate sympathy
- To draw attention
- To express anger
- To deny a consensual sexual encounter
- Mental instability
- To gain leverage in a custody or divorce proceeding
What is most concerning is that the person completely loses his self-confidence and self-esteem. Apart from social and financial harassment, men and their families also face psychological harassment. According to a study conducted by K Brooks and Greenberg (2020), "of the 30 participants, 19 felt they had experienced permanent changes to their personality, such as becoming paranoid and anxious (60%), hypervigilant or antagonistic (50%) and less confident (53.3%)…Along with changes in personality, participants also experienced various other losses related to their sense of self, for example loss of dignity and credibility, loss of image of the self as a doting parent and loss of hope and purpose for the future."
Many slip into depression, develop anxiety, become hostile and insensitive towards the outside world. They feel that since nobody cared for them, they too need not care about anyone else. These allegations leave an everlasting impact on the minds of these men and some men commits suicide out of trauma and depression as many of them get fired from their jobs and it becomes hell for them to live like this, several men find difficulty in getting jobs even when they are innocent.
In the year 2021, Deepak Sangwan, a resident of Dwarka, Delhi, committed suicide by shooting himself in the neck. He left behind a note alleging that a false rape case had been lodged against him by a female and her father.
Sandeep, a 30-year-old Farukh Nagar resident allegedly died by suicide after being framed by a family residing in Rajasthan. According to his family, Sandeep had lent Rs. 3 lakhs to Saheb Singh and had been demanding his money back from him for several months. Instead of returning the borrowed money, Saheb Singh kept demanding more and more money from Sandeep and also filed a false rape case against him. This caused great mental trauma to Sandeep due to which he hanged himself from a tree in the premises of a school in his resident town. Just before committing the act of suicide, Sandeep made a phone call to his uncle Muneesh, telling him that he had written a suicide note. According to the suicide note, Sandeep blamed Saheb Singh and his family for the suicide[1].
A deep dive into the numbers reveals a concerning trend of increasing false rape cases. In 2017, when a total of 46,984 rape cases were under investigation, 2,556 cases were found to be false. The percentage of false cases in 2017 stood at 5.4%. Over the past five years, while there has been no significant increase in actual rape cases, there has been a 55% rise in falsely reported rape cases.
Cases of violence by husbands and relatives accounted for 3.6% (6,938), while cases of abduction and forced captivity of women made up 9.1% (11,680). Additionally, cases involving assaults or the use of criminal force with intent to outrage the modesty of a woman amounted to 5.4% (6,764) of the false cases.
5.8 % of Crime Against Women cases are False (2021)[2]
'LET HER EARN' this reminds all of us about the most recent and well known trending case lodged in Karnataka High Court, this case however signifies a novel mode of harassing the husband or the male partner by asking for such an amount of money as maintenance that the justice themselves mentioned "let her earn".
The Karnataka High Court judge, Justice Lalitha Kanneganti, refused to entertain the wife's request, citing the exorbitant amount as unreasonable. The judge asked the wife's advocate to come up with a more reasonable figure, stating, "Does anybody spend this much, a single lady for herself, if she wants to spend let her earn, not on the husband."
This case highlights the potential misuse of provisions under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which is meant to provide financial support to dependent spouses during ongoing legal disputes. The judge's decision serves as a reminder to spouses seeking maintenance to be reasonable in their demands and to prioritize their financial responsibilities.
Prateek Bansal vs The State of Rajasthan & Ors in Criminal Appeal No. of 2024 (Special Leave to Petition (Crl.) No.2520 OF 2017) and cited in Neutral Citation No.: 2024 INSC 324 a landmark judgement revealing another case of wife and her family harassed husband by filing case against husband in different states, some brief facts of the case are mentioned hereinafter:
Hon'ble supreme court on 19 April 2024 passed in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment in the exercise of its criminal appellate jurisdiction has imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakhs on a wife's father for lodging a false Section 498A IPC case at different places against the husband to harass him by facing trial at different places.
It must be noted that the Bench of Apex Court comprising of Hon'ble Mr Justice Vikram Nath and Hon'ble Mr Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra minced just no words to hold that:
"We thus deprecate this practice of state machinery being misused for ulterior motives and for causing harassment to the other side (husband), we are thus inclined to impose cost on respondent No.2 (wife's father) in order to compensate the appellant (husband)." It was also specified by the top court that out of the Rs 5 lakhs cost, Rs 2.5 lakhs will be given to the appellant (husband) and the rest would be transmitted in the account of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee which shall be deposited with the Registrar of Apex Court within four weeks. The Apex Court thus allowed the husband's appeal and quashed the pending FIR at Udaipur.
Most significantly and most remarkably, the Bench mandates in para 11 that, "In the facts and circumstances as recorded above, we are of the view that respondent Nos. 2 and 3 had been misusing their official position by lodging complaints one after the other. Further, their conduct of neither appearing before the Trial Court at Hisar nor withdrawing their complaint at Hisar, would show that their only intention was to harass the appellant by first making him face a trial at Hisar and then again at Udaipur.
It would also be relevant to note that the appellant had been arrested and thereafter granted bail. And now before this Court, the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 have been vehemently opposing the quashing of the FIR at Udaipur. We may also note that in the complaint made at Hisar, there are allegations to the effect that when respondent No.2 visited the appellant at Hisar, he had made a demand of Rs. 50,00,000/- and also an Innova Car. Thus, the argument that no offence was committed in Hisar but only at Udaipur was also not correct. We thus deprecate this practice of state machinery being misused for ulterior motives and for causing harassment to the other side, we are thus inclined to impose cost on the respondent No.2 in order to compensate the appellant."
Finally and as a corollary, the Bench then concludes by holding in para 12 that:
"In view of the above, the appeal is allowed. The impugned order passed by the High Court is quashed, and the impugned proceedings registered as FIR No. 156 of 2015 dated 01.11.2015, Women Police Station, Udaipur are quashed with costs of Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rs. Five Lacs Only) which shall be deposited with the Registrar of this Court within four weeks and upon deposit of the same, 50% may be transmitted in the account of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and the remaining 50% to the appellant."
There can be no gainsaying that it is high time and Centre must make the necessary amendments in rape laws and dowry laws and so also in all the women safety laws which are so often misused many times by the women and her relatives by falsely implicating the men and his parents and relatives which should certainly no longer now be allowed to go unpunished, unaccounted and unhindered under any circumstances any longer and those lodging vexatious and false complaints must be made to pay very huge compensation and should be jailed also for a term of two to three years at least and similarly where the Court finds clearly that the investigating officer intentionally conducts a mala fide and biased investigation to deliberately frame innocents must be punished most strictly including jail term for few years! There can be no denying that if Judges rule like in this leading case law then no women or her relatives will ever dare to abuse laws meant for the safety of women![3]
Another brutal incident took place in Delhi named as Jasleen Kaur Harassment case August, 2015 where jasleen Kaur falsely alleged on Sarvjeet Singh Bedi a resident of Delhi of her harassment at a traffic light mentioning further that Singh passed obscene comments on her. In the meantime, he faces several brutal consequences for a non-existent act that left him helpless, he was called by several tags such as National Pervert Or Delhi Ka Darinda (Delhi's predator). SINGH lost his job his whole family was so traumatized that his father faced heart attack his mother's health also went down drastically, moreover Singh was unable to hire an advocate for himself, later in time after the incident, an eyewitness vouched for Singh's innocence which brought credibility to Singh's account. In October 2019, an Indian court acquitted Singh of all the charges and he was held innocent. Sarvjeet Singh filed a petition seeking criminal enquiry against Kaur for false accusations, which was later dismissed by Delhi High Court[1].
This incident depicts how the Indian legal framework is gender biased that a person who has not even committed an act has to face several brutal and devastating consequences on the other hand the person who made various refuted allegations is Enjoying life unencumbered, and case was lodged against that person under section 211(IPC, 1860) or under section 182 and 250 (CrPC, 1973)
Conclusion
In order to uplift one section of society we need not to oppress other, otherwise this will then defeat the aim of equality in the form of fundamental right, if this would be the case then it's the clear denial of fundamental rights to the men. It should be understood that the concept of visualizing women as as the sole victims which so entrenched in our society, holds no water as women have came a long way ahead and in present scenario not lagging behind.
In all this can be said that the present legal framework is gender biased whose advantage is taken by a particular section of women very efficiently against their own male partners in order to compel them to meet their unreasonable and baseless demands and in certain cases it is seen that women weaponised these laws against their own children or father.
The exploitation of these laws by women and their families not only harms the lives of those falsely accused but also undermines the authenticity of genuine cases, resulting in losing sight of the fight for the justice.
Empowering one group at the expense of the other often cultivates the crops of coercion and manipulation. The social stigma and everlasting impact on the reputation of the men creates the urgent requirements for reforming a new gender-neutral laws.
The legal framework should be such that it ensures that the justice is not inclined towards any particular gender, we can create a legal system that upholds the rights of all, regardless of gender.
The gender neutral laws are not a new concept there already exist several countries where there are laws where no specific gender is targeted such as:
In the United Kingdom, "Protection from Harassment Act, 1997 is gender impartial as it explains prohibition of harassment by stating:
"A person must not pursue a code of conduct which amounts to harassment of the other…".(Pathak, 2020). We can notice that none of the genders are specifically mentioned here. The Act applies equally to both the genders.
Similarly, in South Africa, "The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act of 2007 has declared rape and sexual assault as act of 'any person' thus framing it gender neutral…Again, the Domestic Violence Act, 1998 defined complainant as "any person who is or has been in domestic relationship with the respondent." which is a practical fairness approach" (Pathak, 2020)[1].
These are some fair examples that how by making certain linguistic changes in the laws we can make huge differences.
In conclusion it would be worthy mentioning that the current legal framework while correctly aimed at protecting women, need some reformation to prevent its misuse by particular section. Implementation of gender-neutral laws would recognized as the most important step towards building a nation where equality is not merely a word but it is truly implemented via provisions of the laws. We should aim a building a society where interest of all are taken care of regardless of the gender. This step would not only help in confronting the immediate issue of false accusation but would also encourage equality and fairness for all.
End Notes:
- S. Tagore, 30-september-2024, Mental Health of Men amidst the Increasing Gender Bias in Laws: A Sociological Study in the Indian Context https://www.ejsss.net.in/article_html.php?did=15382&issueno=0
- WIKIPEDIA, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasleen_Kaur_harassment_controversy
- Jignasa Sinha, March 15, 2021, Delhi: man commits suicide over fake rape cases, https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-man-commits-suicide-over-fake-rape-case-7228381/
- Indiainfacts data Centre, 28- September-2023, False Rape Cases Increased by 55% in the Last Five Years, Reveals NCRB Data, https://indiainfacts.in/false-rape-cases-increased-by-55-in-the-last-five-years-reveals-ncrb-data/
- Adv. S. Sirohi, 22 April 2024, Lawyers Club India, https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/articles/sc-imposes-rs-5-lakh-cost-on-wife-s-father-for-filing-false-cases-at-different-places-to-harass-husband-16608.asp
- TFIPOST.COM https://tfipost.com/2022/03/74-of-all-rape-cases-filed-in-india-are-fake/
- S. Tagore, 30-september-2024, Mental Health of Men amidst the Increasing Gender Bias in Laws: A Sociological Study in the Indian Context https://www.ejsss.net.in/article_html.php?did=15382&issueno=0
- The Law office of Matthew D. Sharp, Reasons of false allegations of rape and sexual assault, https://sharpcriminalattorney.com/sex-crimes-defense/false-accusation-cases-reasons/
- S. Tagore, 30-september-2024, Mental Health of Men amidst the Increasing Gender Bias in Laws: A Sociological Study in the Indian Context https://www.ejsss.net.in/article_html.php?did=15382&issueno=0
- S. Srimathy, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/67085532/
- Women empowerment schemes, Unacameny https://unacademy.com/content/railway-exam/study-material/static-gk/women-empowerment-schemes/
- S. Tagore, 30-september-2024, Mental Health of Men amidst the Increasing Gender Bias in Laws: A Sociological Study in the Indian Context https://www.ejsss.net.in/article_html.php?did=15382&issueno=0
- Merriam Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sexual assault
- Harsh Dubey
Email: [email protected] - Kushagra Purohit
Email: [email protected]
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