Bangalore: Harassed husbands will meet at Yercaud on August 15 and devise ways to get freedom their their wives, in-laws

Come August 15, harassed husbands from various parts of the country will meet and devise ways to get freedom from their wives. The day will also be observed as a ‘Sugarless Day’ in which they will abstain from sweets.

As the nation celebrates its 64th year of Independence from British rule, more than 500 harassed husbands will meet at Yercaud, a hill station near Salem (Tamil Nadu), and chalk out strategies to legally fight their former wives and in-laws.

While it is common to distribute sweets on the occasion of Independence Day, these husbands will boycott sweets. Reason: they haven’t got freedom from their wives.

BITTER LIFE

These husbands, who represent CRISP (Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting) Bangalore  and SIFF (Save Indian Family Foundation), besides some NGOs, will have sugarless coffee and tea, and avoid sweets - an expression of “bitterness in our lives”.

“Unfortunately, we live in a society where there are only expectations from us and no acceptance,” said Kumar Jahgirdar, President, CRISP.

“We want custody of the child and want divorce cases settled at the earliest. The more the delay, more the harassment by our wives and the police,” said Panduranga Katti, president, SIFF.

More than 1,000 cases are awaiting speedy disposal in various family courts across the country. “We’ll work out strategies to put an end to our plight,” said Katti.

Third conclave

The first such conference was held in Goa in 2008 and the second in Shimla, in 2009. This is the third meet. Maharashtra’s Purush Suraksha Sanstha and Uttar Pradesh’s Pathi Paramesh Kendra will also take part in the event. The husbands contend they are trapped in a ‘women-centric society’ and will not celebrate I-Day until their demands are met.

‘MEN’S WELFARE’ MINISTRY

Their demands include creation of a separate ministry for men’s welfare on the lines of women and child welfare ministry, equal taxation for men and women, change in inheritance laws, amendment to Domestic Violation Act of 2005 and mandatory joint custody of children for divorced couples.

A SIFF member said the suicide rate among husbands is twice that among women. “More than 1.2 lakh harassed husbands have committed suicide in the past five years. We are committed to fighting such wives through these forums,” he said.