Chennai, Oct.18: The relationship arising out of wedlock is unique, intimate and civilised with absolute unconditional mutual trust and confidence. But, this relationship gets affected among the young couples nowadays forcing them to approach courts.

While three legislations were enacted to protect woman from harassment, women however, misused these acts sometimes, forcing men and their family members to undergo mental agony and untold hardship. The victims vary from top celebrities to ordinary persons. Though the courts have come down heavily on the misuse of these statutes, the act of using these enactments as a tool to settle scores continues.

With an object to protect a woman from cruelty by her husband and his relatives, section 498 A has been inserted in the IPC. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 were the other enactments.

More men these days are complaining of harassment by wife and in-laws. Former Vice Chancellor of Madras University P T Manoharan, his wife and daughter got relief from the Madras high court after his daughter-in-law committed suicide due to alleged matrimonial dispute between her and her husband. Her brother named Manoharan, his wife and daughter in his complaint. But, the court quashed the charges against them.

“The statutes are misused by women sometimes. P T Manoharan’s case was a classic example. He and his wife and daughter had nothing to do with the dowry death case. But, they are unnecessarily dragged into it and harassed’, said former public prosecutor and senior counsel B. Sriramalu.

Sundar (name changed) who married in 1990 and a father of two children was a victim of harassment by his wife. “We led a happy life with two children for more than ten years. She was a housewife all along. Five years back, I arranged a self-employment for her and she started earning money. Falling prey to the luxurious life of our neighbours, she started demanding more money to lead the same style of life. But, I could not afford to pay. Hence she started neglecting me and finally abandoned me one and half years back. On the advice of her ‘close friends and family members, she never allowed me to meet my children. She also gave complaints, levelling false allegations against me.

Her only intention is to torture and harass me. She also threatened my parents, which forced them to give a police complaint. Finally, she has filed a case for maintenance, which is pending before a family court, said Sundar.

There is a NGO “Save Indian Family Movement”, which deals with such harassment cases. Any victim of harassment by women can approach the SIFM through their website www.saveindianfamily.org or www.498a.org