By Sharat Pillai

Martyrs of Marriage is a gut wrenching account of the abysmal misuse of Section 498A (A law that protects women from physical and mental trauma in marriage) in the Indian Penal Code against Men. It talks about the trauma that men have to face as a result of a partisan law that has been prevalent in the Indian Judicial system since 1983 and how men despite being innocent in most cases find it extremely difficult to share their side of the story to this day and bereave themselves from the uncalled harm that they have been subjected to while the system finds itself helpless to rise to the occasion and provide a level-playing ground to men. The poster of the film is a face of a male mannequin decked up in a turban usually seen in Indian marriages and it is symbolic of the way men are treated in marital disputes in the country – as a commodity, a punching bag, a defacto villain. The film also reveals as to how not only the husband in a marriage but his entire family, distant relatives, new-born nephews or even ailing grandmothers can be subjected to trauma just on the behest of an accusation from the wife. There are a myriad of societal issues that have been hampering the social fabric of India which have been prevalent for decades, if not more and we as a society are slowly and steadily fighting up our way against it however the misuse of 498A is particularly an important issue to take note of because it is entirely birthed out of a biased, sexist and an arbitrary law. It is something that could have been avoided or made fairer, if the lawmakers in the country back in the 80s did not fall prey to woke activism and resort to piecemeal settlements.

It’s no fiction that a large section of women in India are subjected to domestic violence which is sickening and 498A does provide justice to the deserving and genuine cases and therefore it is a much needed law. Domestic violence is a very serious issue and it must be dealt with the utmost sensitivity and all the women who have been subjected to such trauma should get justice and the perpetrators should be punished accordingly if proven but that does not mean that you introduce a law which is biased and sexist in its formation itself. You cannot vilify a male and his family just on the basis of accusations of a female without any evidence. This law is a testament to the deeply sexist mindset of the Indian judicial system and society itself. If there is no level-playing ground then how can there be justice and even if there is one the process of attaining it itself impairs the man from his career, time, money and respect and by the end of which all he has is a tainted moral character and a good for nothing acquittal to show to society. The number of 498A cases have only increased in the past few years however a staggering 85% cases have been proved to be fake. This law seriously needs to be looked at and reviewed because if 85% cases are fake, then somehow the genuine cases are not getting the timely attention and the law is only being used as a legal sword by women who want to take some sort of a revenge for their failed marriages for whatever reason that may be. From the time the documentary was released in 2016 to now, there have been several positive re-enforcements made by the Supreme Court and eminent lawyers of the country have advocated for this law to be made gender neutral which is a positive sign but any kind of neutrality in the law itself is still a distant reality. Also several avenues of society and culture have still been found to be promoting misandry like Media, Films & TV Serials, Pseudo Feminists, etc. due to which the public perception of men still to this day remains that of a default villain and that is where the role of luminaries like Deepika Bhardwaj gets all the more important because despite being a woman, she understands the pain that many innocent married men go through in this country. We should only embrace and facilitate people like Deepika who have been doing such phenomenal work.

Image 1 Source – https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-misuse-of-dowry-laws-takes-new-turn-2549561

Image 2 Source & YouTube link to documentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKRAkw5RUdw