Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code-commonly known as the anti-dowry law is being grossly misused in India, claims Amit Deshpande, a men’s rights activist who has been campaigning for changes in dowry laws in India through Vaastav Foundation - a group he founded.
Mr Deshpande said Australian lawmakers must take into consideration that “if such a law is already being misused in another country, then what are the chances that it won’t be misused in Australia.”
“There is a huge probability of the law being misused because the utility of this particular law doesn’t stand in a country like Australia, because there is already a Family Violence Act which covers all forms of abuse,” Mr Deshpande told SBS Punjabi.
His Foundation has also made a submission to the Senate inquiry currently investigating the extent of prevalence of dowry-related abuse in Australia.
He argues that there is no need for legislation to tackle this form of abuse in Australia as it is already “covered under the existing family violence provision”.
“So if that particular law is already there then it is only going to add confusion. It will be like double jeopardy for the husbands. For instance, if the woman decides to file a case against her husband, then he will have to face multiple cases and then he will have to prove himself innocent in multiple court cases,” added Mr Deshpande.
He said the Indian anti-dowry law is "draconian" because of it being non-billable and non-compoundable.
He pointed out that the Supreme Court of India has termed rampant misuse of this law as “legal terrorism” and has made such extreme observations repeatedly in several of its judgments.
“Men who had never seen the inside of a police station, end up being locked up in jails along with their families. In some cases, many of them have also committed suicides,” said Mr Deshpande.
He also claimed that suicide rate among married men has significantly increased post-1983 when the anti-dowry law was enacted.
“The maximum number of suicides in India of men particularly, 24 per cent of men commit suicides because of families and 22 per cent because of illnesses- this shows that dowry law has impacted the suicide rate as well in India.”
“This has to stop somewhere, somehow,” said Mr Deshpande.
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