It is not true that the Anti Dowry law does not benefit anyone, it sure does. Below are the benefactors of the Anti Dowry law. These below agencies benefit from the misery and suffering of others while the Ministry for Women and Child Development Ministry meets and meets and meets to understand if the law is misused at all.
Benefactors:
1) Unscrupulous aka “Empowered” wives: –
These people are primary benefactors of the draconian Anti Dowry law section 498A law. The level of misuse has reached epic proportions in the last 4 years and if it has made someone rich it is these folks. These people being the primary accusers in these cases go great lengths to file these false cases. False medical certificates are made the cases are planned and filed meticulously. The compromise money demanded to withdraw the false 498A cases has now reached anywhere between 10 Lakhs to 40 Crore (A recent southern film star was threatened with a false 498A unless he forked out Rs 40 Crore as “compromise” money). These women then have a cut in the share of the booty that they manage to extort, get a favorable divorce and resume the hunt for their next prey.
2) The Lawyers of India: –
The lawyers have a field day when the falsely accused families run to the lawyers for getting advice when their entire families have been put behind bars .The increase in the number of false cases in India has increased astronomically and so have the revenues of these lawyers. The people also sometimes provide false advice and collude with the members of the girl’s families to sell out their clients in turn paving the way for more extortion. These people are also currently benefiting from the thousands of false domestic violence cases that are flooding the Indian Judiciary system.
3) Police and IO:
One of the most corrupt government agencies of India these people are another major benefactor of the false 498A cases. These people are the wife’s henchmen in uniform in false 498A cases. They try to arrest, terrorize the husbands family having total disregard for senior citizens, women and children. These people break the rules of Indian constitution on every count and have scant disregard for all judgments that have set down guidelines for arresting citizens of India. We have cases where these knights in shining armor have dragged 90-year-old women to the court under the dowry harassment cases. They look for opportunities to make money from first from the girls side to unleash legal terrorism on the Husband’s family and then after the husband and his family is arrested extort money from the Husband and his family for releasing them and giving them any leverage in the police station. Not only that they try to negotiate the compromise amount and have a fixed cut in the `compromise’ amount that is extorted from the husband.
4) Crime against women cells (CAW cell):
The so called cells which were created with the intention of being counselors to investigate and resolve differences in sensitive matrimonial issues, now has turned into a “Mafia Den” for extortion in false 498A cases. Here is where Husbands families are humiliated, terrorized into payment of compromise money to `resolve’ differences. The women in these cells are no less than henchwomen who do not think twice before using brutal physical force to make their victims succumb to pressure and extortion demands. Once the payment has been made the CAW cell women have a good cut in the booty.
5) Radical NGO’s:
If police and CAW cells are henchmen then the NGO’s are the bloodhound. These organizations at the slightest smell of a marital discord between a women and “well to do” husband start counseling the wife instead of helping resolving the marital discord urge her to file false 498A and DV cases. Rarely will you find a NGO helping the wife of a Bus Conductor or a Sweeper. These NGO always work with wives of rich individuals where money is there to be made.
6) The National Commission of Women:
Lovingly called as the National Commission of Wives ,this agency although does not directly benefit from extortion amount in these false 498A they are a great indirect benefactor .This agency is an expert in fudging numbers and always pushing for laws to falsely increase the count the women that have fallen prey to dowry harassment and other similar cases. Recently the agency came up with the historical recommendation to convert any unnatural death of women to be categorized as a “Dowry Death” They are also an epitome of unaccountability and have done nothing for the 120,000 women who have been arrested in the past 4 years under the Anti Dowry law. The leadership of this agency is ordinary and totally unaccountable. The chairperson of this agency quotes numbers, which have no basis for support. This organization now says that the false cases are because of “ignorance” on the part of the woman. Is using a criminal law under ignorance tantamount to its misuse ? The agency tries to sensationalize the condition of women in India and provide staggering false numbers to the press and agencies like the UNIFEM to gain funds for itself and its sister NGO’s.
— By : Arnab Ganguly
