It is good to note that various welfare groups in India take up the cause of downtrodden women. But a story in The Telegraph recently about a 71-year-old man in Kolkata who has committed suicide after his daughter-in-law threatened to file false complaints against him and his son under Sec 498A IPC (dowry law) makes me think that men need protection from women. This law, and several others like the Domestic Violence Act, are being misused by unscrupulous and crooked women to harass their husbands and in-laws. Yet, Indian society seems to think that all women are 'sati-savitris' who are incapable of lying and harassing their in-laws.

I am a victim of these 'gender-biased' laws. My brother is being harassed by his wife for the past few years. My sister-in-law lives in a house owned by my mother with the two children she shares with my brother. My parents and I do not live with her. She is a housewife and my brother pays entirely for her upkeep as well as for that of the children. Yet, she refuses to live with him (he works in another city). It is a case of breakdown of marriage brought on because the parties in the marriage are very incompatible. My sister-in-law keeps threatening us that LAWS IN INDIA ARE IN FAVOUR OF WOMEN (READ 498A, ETC) AND THAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE ANY ACTION AGAINST HER. SO, IN EFFECT, MY BROTHER HAS BEEN THROWN OUT OF THE HOUSE OWNED BY HIS OWN MOTHER. WE ARE POWERLESS TO DO ANYTHING. IS THIS JUSTICE? LET ME ALSO TELL YOU THAT MY SISTER-IN-LAW IS AFTER OUR FAMILY PROPERTY AND SHE HAS TOLD MY BROTHER THAT THE ‘GOING RATE THESE DAYS IS RS 60 LAKHS PER CHILD’. IF THIS IS NOT EXTORTION, WHAT IS?

My parents and I are suffering immensely along with my brother. All reconciliation efforts have failed. The lady in question will not reconcile and neither will she go in for a divorce.

I am sure there are many similar cases and yet feminists in India think making divorce 'easy' will harm society. Mr Shinde's daughter is not the only person in the country in dire need of divorce. My brother also needs to be rescued from the clutches of his unscrupulous wife and her equally unscrupulous family. Unfortunately, my father is not a minister and so he cannot tweak the laws to give his son justice. He is in his late sixties and a heart patient. My mother is in her mid-sixties. At this age, they should be enjoying the company of their friends and grandchildren, but instead they are visiting lawyers and seeking legal advice on what to do if false cases are slapped against them. I have had to put my life on hold as well. I constantly worry about my parents and brother (what if false cases are slapped against them). DO WE HAVE TO SPEND OUR LIVES LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF LEGAL TERRORISM? If divorce is sought, it will take years to secure one. However, there are have been cases where divorce has been refused though the parties in question have been living apart for 19 years. What right do the courts have to deny a peaceful life to litigants?

I am married as well. If I had problems with my husband, I am sure a radical feminist would have advised me to slap a 498A case against him and my in-laws (maybe even against the 6-year-old daughter of my husband's brother). BUT IS THERE ANYBODY WHO WILL LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY I AM BEING HARASSED BY MY SISTER-IN-LAW?

THE PRESUMED FEMALE ‘VICTIMHOOD’ THEORY THAT IS BEING TOUTED THESE DAYS IS FLAWED. WIVES ARE NOT SAINTS. WOMEN LIKE ME AND MY MOTHER ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF ANOTHER WOMAN. CAN ANYBODY GIVE US JUSTICE?