LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN MATRIMONIAL OFFENCES AGAINST MEN IN INDIA

Abstract

Matrimonial laws in India are primarily focused on women protection as the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 or sections 85-86 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. These laws were initially made to empower and secure the women against cruelty and abuse but are silent about abuse of husbands by their wives or her family in a marriage. With changing times, the dimension of matrimonial offences has changed the abovesaid legal provisions have been used arbitrarily leaving negligible protection to men bound in the holy matrimony. This research is a blend of analytical and empirical study, the analytical part of the paper critically examines and analyze case laws, judicial precedents, government reports and international reports and legal commentaries to understand the reasons behind gender inequality in matrimonial offences against men whereas the empirical part of the paper focuses on psychological abuse of in married men using schedule as the primary tool for the data collection. A sample size of 20 married men across all age groups were randomly selected for the purpose of this study. The results show that 20% men in the study had at some point of time faced fake and false FIR or domestic violence cases by their spouse or the in-laws and 45% men had a positive experience of their married life; 45% men had a negative experience of marriage and 10% men had a neutral approach towards marital life. It is concluded that there is a need to recognize marital abuse in men as a criminal offence by the law along with imposing penal sanctions for lodging fake FIR and domestic violence. Judicial reforms such as amendments in the existing law, initiating fast-track courts for the trial of marital abuse cases and promotion of alternate dispute resolution should be promoted as an effective redressal mechanism by the state in association with public campaigns must be made.