Twilight Zone politics at the UN

Twilight Zone politics at the UN

Carey Roberts

Carey Roberts
January 30, 2007


What happens when half-truths and outright dishonesty come to dominate the thinking of an entire organization? This is my observation of the current state of affairs at the United Nations, at least when it come to matters of sex. There, the mantras of "gender equality" and "female empowerment" have crowded out notions of what ordinary persons used to call "fairness" and "truth."

To put the matter in perspective, let's consider longevity, considered one of the best measures of how persons are faring in the world.

According to the World Health Organization, men's lifespan is lagging in almost every country around the globe. In the United States, the gap is five years. In Russia and eastern Europe, men are dying 14 years before women. Imagine trying to sustain an economy when large swaths of your most productive workers are dying in their 30s and 40s.

A couple years ago I documented WHO's neglect of men's health and concluded, "Something has gone terribly wrong. The health programs of the World Health Organization and other agencies are violating the U.N.'s most cherished founding principles." [www.renewamerica.us/analyses/050312roberts.htm]

But apparently that commentary didn't make it to the attention of Dr. Margaret Chan of China, recently named to head up the World Health Organization. Accepting her appointment, Chan pledged her priorities would be "The health of the people of Africa, and the health of women."

Why don't we just call it "exorbitant irrationality" and leave it at that?

But the WHO is not the only UN agency that has fallen into the bitter slough of the feminist "men-stay-away" creed:

1. In early January UNICEF published its annual report on children, this time with a decidedly ideological twist. "Women and Children — The Double Dividend of Gender Equality" demands that women's liberation, feminist-style, must now become the top priority of that UN agency.

Douglas Sylva at the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute remarked, "What is so troubling about this report is that it shows that UNICEF is still in the grasp of ideologues — specifically radical feminists who are willing to undermine basic child survival in order to push their agenda. . . . Every dollar spent on radical feminism — transforming the family, reproductive rights, political agitation — is a dollar not spent on saving children from things like malaria and starvation."

2. In November a blue-ribbon panel set up by former secretary-general Kofi Annan released a report on reforming the sprawling UN bureaucracy. The report stated, "The promotion of gender equality must remain the mandate of all UN entities."

And exactly what does "gender" mean? Nobody is willing to say, so that will remain a mystery.

And what is "equality"? Of course that means the elimination of all social differences between men and women, relying on state-enforced mandates, quotas, and set-asides.

3. Momentum is growing to carve out a new agency within the UN devoted to advancing the feminist agenda. Nafis Sadik, special adviser to the Secretary General, claims such an agency is necessary "to put women's empowerment and gender equality at the center of the work of the United Nations."

Janice Crouse of the Beverly LaHaye Institute provided this reality check: "There are already a number of agencies and commissions that focus on women and for decades the feminists have dominated sessions at numerous other UN conferences. ... Is there no end to the power grabs of the women at the United Nations?"

4. Then there's the UN Population Fund, the agency that wants to make abortion services available in every hamlet and village, thus contributing to sex-selective abortions and the massive dearth of girls in China, India, and elsewhere. [www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19061]

Last year the UN (de-)Population Fund published a report on female migrants, making the claim that no doubt played on every chivalrous heart: "despite substantial contributions to both their families at home and communities abroad, the needs of migrant women continue to be overlooked and ignored."

That statement ranks right up there with the claims that 70% of the world's poor are female, and Hillary would never tell a lie. [www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/1004roberts.html]

Ambassador John Bolton once described the UN as stuck in a time-warp that relies on "practices, attitudes, and approaches that were abandoned 30 years ago in much of the rest of the world."

Bolton's common-sense solution to the UN Twilight Zone mentality? The United States needs "to shift away from the system of assessed contributions toward a system of voluntary contributions."

In other words, UN, if you don't grow up and stop acting like a petulant and self-indulgent teeny-bopper, you might end up being cut out of the deal.

---

Carey Roberts is an analyst and commentator on political correctness. His best-known work was an exposé on Marxism and radical feminism.

Mr. Roberts' work has been cited on the Rush Limbaugh show. Besides serving as a regular contributor to RenewAmerica.us, he has published in The Washington Times, LewRockwell.com, ifeminists.net, Men's News Daily, eco.freedom.org, The Federal Observer, Opinion Editorials, and The Right Report.

Previously, he served on active duty in the Army, was a professor of psychology, and was a citizen-lobbyist in the US Congress. In his spare time he admires Norman Rockwell paintings, collects antiques, and is an avid soccer fan. He now works as an independent researcher and consultant.

© Copyright 2007 by Carey Roberts
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/070130

Source : http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0207/0207indiafamily.htm

U.S. must stop exporting weapons of family destruction

By Uma Challa web posted January 29, 2007

Pearl S. Buck once wrote, "The lack of emotional security of our American young people is due to their isolation from the larger family unit no mere father and mother are enough to provide emotional security for a child. He needs to feel himself one in a world of kinfolk, persons of variety in age and temperament, and yet allied to himself by an indissoluble bond..."

The much envied Indian family structure is, in fact, based on mutual tolerance and coexistence of persons belonging to different generations, and provides safety and security to individuals at all stages of life. The larger family also acts as a buffer to mitigate everyday stress and helps minimize conflicts between inexperienced married couples. This stable and time-tested cultural institution has suffered the most serious assaults due to the export of family-breaking ideologies originating in the Western world. Understanding and tolerance to build harmonious marital relationships, are now being projected as a form of slavery. To make things worse, senseless U.S. anti- family laws, which have literally destroyed trust between American men and women, are now being thrust on India, without any heed to cultural relevance, social consensus, or the presence of a suitable law enforcement system for their proper implementation.

The heavily critiqued Domestic Violence Act is the Indian clone of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which assumes that victims of domestic violence are always women. Further, it assumes that women are always honest, and, hence, requiring proof of their claims is unnecessary. The accused man, however, is presumed guilty until proven innocent. In an overzealous attempt to cover all forms of real or perceived violence against women, feminist organizations have drafted this ludicrous piece of legislation, which provides enormous scope for its misuse by unscrupulous wives/girlfriends (current or former) against men and their kin. Victims of female aggression (men, women or children) are offered no legal protection whatsoever.

Most importantly, the implementation of such laws depends on a law enforcement system replete with corrupt officials who, for their own monetary gains, embolden women to take undue advantage of the credibility granted to them by Indian law. The misuse of draconian anti-dowry laws, like Section 498A of Indian Penal Code, is so widespread that the Supreme Court of India termed the practice as "Legal Terrorism". It has been established that 98% of cases claiming any form of harassment under the anti-dowry laws are false, and are mainly filed by wives who seek to threaten, extort money from, and wreak revenge on husbands and their relatives, in case of marital discord. The Domestic Violence Act also lent itself to misuse immediately after its introduction in October 2006.

The export of destructive feminist ideologies and anti-family laws has broken many Indian homes, depriving children of a healthy childhood. A report by the World Health Organization cited misuse of anti-dowry laws as a major factor contributing to the increasing abuse of the elderly in India. News reports also revealed that many falsely charged, poor and illiterate women are languishing in prison every year until they are bailed out or released. Many individuals have ended their lives unable to endure the humiliation of being arrested and the trauma of fighting false cases, which typically span 5-7 years. There is also an increasing number of unhappy women who, misled by false notions of liberation and empowerment, shunned the simple joys of family life that no women's organization can restore.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, and is entitled to protection by society and the State." It also states, "men and women, , are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution." It declares that "all are equal before the law, and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law." Most importantly, it proclaims that "everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law."

Amnesty International should recognize that all the above mentioned rights of thousands of innocent Indian men and women are being violated everyday under the guise of women-protection laws. Amnesty International should first examine the social and cultural implications of every legislation (domestic and international) that affects the family unit in any country, and ensure the presence of a reliable and efficient law enforcement machinery to implement the laws. Ignoring these crucial concerns and pushing for more laws like International-VAWA will only destroy many more lives and families. ESR

Uma Challa is an activist who fights against gender-biased laws which are harming the Indian family system. She can be reached at uma@498a.org

Dreamland Delusions

Dreamland Delusions

An Article by Madhu Kishwar with comments in blue by Vinayak

The new Domestic Violence Act is well-intentioned but over-ambitious - as if wishful thinking is all that is needed to protect women from all kinds of real and imagined harm.

We are likely to see this law make a mockery of itself.

Madhu Purnima Kishwar

The new Domestic Violence Act (DVA) has made some significant improvements over the existing laws but it is not as if prior to this Act civil laws did not exist to protect women's rights in the family. Astute and determined lawyers have successfully pleaded and got adequate relief for their female clients under the existing matrimonial, civil and criminal laws as the article by Flavia Agnes demonstrates. But, the tardiness of court procedures and judicial bias often resulted in miscarriage of justice.

The biggest shortcoming of this Act is its overweening ambition and lack of sense of proportion. Ordinarily, when handling such deep rooted problems sincere regimes start their interventions with more focused and manageable victimised groups; they set themselves modest goals for dealing with blatant and clear cut cases of abuse and bring those worst offenders to swift justice. For example, they target their laws and welfare measures at those women who have suffered severe physical injuries in their homes and are commonly recognised in their communities as abused wives.

But what the framers of this Act have done is to anticipate all possible ways that the law could protect all aggrieved females from any and all sorts of harm and humiliation. At the same time they have put all their faith in all women being essentially good and honest victims while they view the government and the NGO networks as being capable of righting all kinds of wrongs, and in using all the claims of all women to get them justice, without worrying about proof of claims, or the current state of the society and of the government machinery.

It is as if the framers of this law live in a Dreamland where wishful thinking is all that is needed to protect women from all kinds of real and imagined harm. In the process we are likely to see this law make a mockery of itself.

[ comment from Vinayak : While this act makes a mockery or not, the HUSBANDS are bound to suffer. As Ms. Madhu has rightly pointed out, the framers of this law are IN dreamland. They have suddenly imagined that all women are good and honest while husbands (men) are vile and vicious - for ONLY men could be complained AGAINST under THIS Act !! ]


The Positive Aspects

A major plus point of this Act is that it acknowledges domestic violence as a problem in itself rather than keeping it forcibly tied to the pallu of anti dowry laws.

The previous law carried an absurd assumption that domestic violence was invariably linked to dowry demands and hence a new and exotic variety of crime called "dowry death" was added to the statute book. Consequently, lawyers, police, and even some women's organizations encouraged women to register violence cases under the Anti Dowry Act even when there was no basis to the allegations of dowry demands because they felt stringent provisions of the anti dowry law made it easier for them to press charges and get a sympathetic hearing. Thus our courts came to be filled with cases with exaggerated or patently false charges of dowry demand related cruelty, while other dimensions of cruelty got pushed under the carpet.

[note from Vinayak : Thanks Ms. Madhu for putting it so clearly. Yes !, India women and Indian women's organisations were FILING FALSE DOWRY CASES !! Elders were abused and thrown in Jail .. YES !! ...that is the truth till date !!]

This new law frees women from the need to make bogus dowry related charges in order for their abuse to be taken seriously. This may enable us to know the real face of domestic violence in India and dispel the simplistic notion that dowry is the sole or main cause of violence against women.

[note from Vinayak : ...or the SAME un scrupulous and lying wives may make OTHER false claims under the Dowry Act.? don't you feel the possibility that IF these women mis used the dowry act earlier, they would misuse the DV act now ?]

The DVA provides for comprehensive and speedy relief within a set time frame. [See: Provisions For Speedy Relief, linked from below the page]. So far the remedies available to a victim of domestic violence in the civil courts and criminal courts vide Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were limited. They could file for divorce under civil law and or get the abusive spouse arrested and tried for cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

Thus the earlier laws hinged mainly on threatening the use of penal provisions to get the accused arrested and jailed on registration of a complaint in order to negotiate relief with an allegedly abusive spouse.Many women learnt to use the law to arm-twist their husbands to agree to financial settlements before divorce. The new Act moves in the direction of providing positive protection of women's civil and matrimonial rights, without using the threat of imprisonment under criminal laws as the first step towards seeking redress, as was the case with Section 498A. Under this law, imprisonment comes as a second stage remedy.

[Note from Vinayak : Please note that the EARLIER law has NOT been repealed or taken away. This act is IN ADDITION to the earlier Sec 498A of IPC. So women may still use IPC 498A to arm-twist ... fleece their husbands etc etc ]

Earlier, victimised women found it hard to get emergency relief unless a very determined lawyer was willing to walk the extra mile and use the skillful techniques described by Flavia Agnes elsewhere. But even in those cases they had to combine legal means with extra-legal ones. Since court proceedings are invariably protracted, the victim had to often live at the mercy of the abuser or walk out of the house.

A major shortcoming of earlier laws against domestic violence was that they assumed women are abused only in their roles as wives and daughters-in-law. The new Act takes a more balanced and nuanced view of domestic abuse by including daughters, sisters, mothers, mothersin- law, sisters-in-law and even grandmothers in its purview.

[Note from Vinayak : but the sad portion is that while a mother in law COULD be a victim she cannot file a case against a daughter in law ?? under DV act ? correct ? . The only MEN can be accused under this act !! how strange taht when we scream for equality from roof tops, we should land up with such a legislation ]

As the story of Pratima Singh in this issue, illustrates, a woman can also be brutally victimised by her own father. Many women are also victimised by their sons and daughters-in-law, especially if widowed.

This new Act provides for swift, time bound and comprehensive civil remedies for maintenance, right to the matrimonial home, protection against violence as well as custody of children. It would have marked a significant improvement over the earlier civil remedies available to abused women had the framers of this law been more focused, realistic and balanced in their approach. However, it has done very little to allay the fears of all those who have witnessed widespread abuse and misuse of the existing laws against domestic violence. If anything, it has added more reasons for concern and alarm.

Beneficiaries of this Law

Section 2(a) of the Act enables a woman to seek protection against any adult male family member who has been in a domestic relationship with her.

[Note from Vinayak : Why only against MALE members ?? what is Daughter in Law abuses mother in Law ? What about the 1000s of ELDERS who have landed literally ON the street as their daughters in law threw them out ??]

This includes her own father, brother, her husband or male partner as well as his male and female relatives. Thus, a father-in-law, mother-in-law, or even siblings of the husband and other relatives can be proceeded against even if they are not living under the same roof.

It also covers sisters, widows, mothers, daughters, women in relationships of cohabitation, single women, adopted children, etc. The types of offenses that would make fathers or brothers subject to the Act have been expanded in ways that make it much easier for the women to enter a case under DVA. While this marks an improvement, it has the potential to create very conflicting situations. For example, what if a mother-in-law alleges abuse by her daughter-in-law who in turn seeks an injunction against her mother-in-law? Given that battles between women in the family tend to be no less ferocious than those between spouses, this is not an unlikely scenario.

Under this law children can also file a case against a parent or parents who are tormenting or torturing them physically, mentally, or economically. In case the child is not in a position to approach the court on his/her own, "any other person" can file a complaint on behalf of the child. The law does not specify that a person has to be closely related or well known to the child in order to qualify for filing a complaint on the child?s behalf.

However, men are not entitled to seek relief under this Act, which is based on the assumption that only women and children suffer domestic abuse.Thus an old father-in law who may suffer abuse, taunts and even violence at the hands of his son or daughter-in-law cannot get relief under this law while a mother-in law supposedly can.

Definition of Abuse

Section 3 of the law defines "domestic violence" as any act/ conduct/omission/commission that harms or injures or has the potential to harm or injure a woman or child. This law considers physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, psychological, and economic abuse or threats of violence and abuse as equally serious offences.

The law lists out in detail different forms of violence faced by women so that interpretation of what constitutes violence is not left solely to the discretion of the judges.

Even a single act of commission or omission may constitute domestic violence.

This has been done with the intention that women should not be required to suffer a prolonged period of abuse before the law takes them seriously.

The court may conclude that an offence has been committed by the accused upon the sole testimony of the woman alleging abuse.

Given that lying in court has never been taken seriously enough to invoke punishment, laws which presume guilt even before the trial has begun are prone to great misuse.

[ Note from Vinayak : This is one of the biggest lacuna in the act. Men are GUILTY AS CHARGED !!. This single provision has to be un constitutional !!. How can anyone be guilty as charged that too in a country like India where lying in court is common !!]

Physical Abuse is defined as any act or conduct which is of such a nature as to cause bodily pain, harm, or danger to life, limb, or health, or an act that impairs the health or development of the person aggrieved, or that includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force.

Sexual Abuse is any "conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates, degrades, or otherwise violates the dignity of woman." The law also covers instances where a woman is forced to have sexual intercourse with her husband against her will.

While it is important to respect a women's right to say ?No? to sex even in a marriage, it is not easy to assess whether a particular sexual act is against a woman's will or was with her consent, in case of married couples especially if there are no signs of struggle or resistance on the womans body.

[Note from Vinayak : so what's next. Get a lawyer write a complete sexual act before having sex ?? ]

Verbal and Emotional Abuse have been defined as "insults, ridicule, humiliation, name-calling,especially with regard to not having a child or a male child and; repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved person is interested." So, for example, if the abuser were to threaten the children, or relatives of the woman, this will also be considered an offence under this law.

However, putting verbal taunts or abuse at par with physical violence amounts to very shoddy thinking. For example, calling someone a "moron" cannot be treated at par with beating up a woman.

Economic Abuse: Even under existing laws, a woman is entitled to seek maintenance for herself and her children from her husband. However, under the new law, economic deprivation or denial of financial resources to which the aggrieved woman or child is entitled under law or custom, or which the person aggrieved requires out of necessity, now falls under the category of economic abuse. A husband would be held guilty of economic abuse if he were to sell or use her stridhan (dowry), her jewelry and/or any other property jointly or separately held by the wife. But the law does not specify what happens if a certain asset has been alienated with the written consent of the wife but later she makes a case that it was done against her will.

Most important of all, under this provision a man cannot dispose of household assets, nor can he alienate her assets, nor for that matter any other property, in which the aggrieved person has an interest or entitlement by virtue of the domestic relationship.Even a recent live-in partner can prevent a man from selling his own property for his business requirements. This clause too is likely to cause havoc, unless used judiciously.

[Note from vinayak : I'm waiting to see what happens when (a) a man uses his credit card / personal loan to buy something (b) can't pay and (c) tries to see the assets to pay the loan and (d) the wife goes and files a DV act case !!. I get a feeling that a few large banks will get screwed IF THIS idea picks up speed !!]


Live-In Relationships

The most important new element in this law is that it recognises live-in relationships and offers the same degree of protection to a woman who is living with a man without marriage. According to section 2(g), any relationship between two persons who live, or have at any point of time lived together in a shared household when they are related by marriage, consanguinity, or through a relationship similar to marriage, or are family members living in a joint family, is considered a "domestic relationship". It also protects women in fraudulent or bigamous marriages, or in marriages considered invalid by law. However, the law does not make explicit whether it also applies to same sex marriages or gay relationships.


The wide ranging definition of "domestic relationship" may bring the needed relief for those women whose husbands dupe them into cohabitation without going through proper ceremonies and then dump them at will on the grounds that theirs was not a valid marriage. But it has cast its net so wide that it leaves enormous scope for flimsy claims with a view to harassment and blackmail.

The Act does not specify how long a couple has to have lived in the shared household in order for a woman to claim benefit under the Act. Thus, as per the letter of this law, a woman who may have lived with a man for two or three months without being married to him can at any point seek relief under this law at par with a legally wedded wife. This amounts to making a mockery of laws against bigamy. The habitation rights of livein partners in the same house in case of already married men cannot be protected in this way without serious damage to the rights of legally married wives and their children. It is perfectly legitimate to protect a woman from violence and punish a man for inflicting it on her, whether or not she is married to the man. However, to give her the right to claim maintenance and get injunctions barring her male partners? entry into his own house is going a bit too far, especially if he already has a wife and children living in that house.

[Note from Vinayak : ....and What is the proof required of a live in Relationship ?/ again woman's sole testimony ? are we going nuts ? some female on the road can tomorrow come to my house, claim rights to stay there .... and when I evict her, can she file a DV act case against men ?? ]


No Eviction or Harassment

An important addition to the law ensures that an aggrieved wife or partner who takes recourse to the law, and gets a "protection order" or an injunction barring the entry of the husband into the house, cannot be harassed for doing so. Thus, if a man is accused of any of the above forms of violence, he cannot, during the pending disposal of the case prohibit/ restrict the wife?s or partner?s continued access to resources or facilities to which she is entitled by virtue of the domestic relationship, including access to the shared household. If he does so he invites a fine of Rs 20,000 and/or a jail term of up to one year.

Section 17 of the law, which gives all married women or female partners in a domestic relationship the right to reside in a home that is known in legal terms as the ?shared household?, applies whether or not she has any legal right, title or beneficial interest in the same.

Sections 18-23 provide a large number of avenues for an abused woman to get relief. Courts are obliged to give her Protection Orders, Residence Orders, Monetary Relief, custody of her children, Compensation Order and Interim/ ex parte Orders.

The law provides that if an abused woman so desires, she has to be provided alternative accommodation comparable to the standard of living she is used to and in such situations. The cost of the accommodation and her maintenance has to be paid for by her husband or partner.Thus there is provision for rapid temporary rights for the woman pending disposal of the case. This makes perfect sense as far as wives are concerned. But to put the same weapons in the hands of a temporary live-inpartner amounts to letting our notion of gender justice run haywire. In effect it means that a man has no right to break off a love affair without paying through his nose.

A woman who is the victim of domestic violence will have the right to the services of the police, shelter homes and medical establishments. She also has the right to simultaneously file her own complaint under the existing laws against domestic violence, such as Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. Thus, an accused person will be liable to have charges framed against him under both the old law and the new one. Further, the offences are cognisable and non-bailable.

No Safeguards against Abuse of Law

It is unfortunate that despite widespread complaints of misuse of earlier laws the new Act pays scant attention to building safeguards against malafide use of 498A and the anti-dowry laws. All it has done is to pile on more provisions with similar potential for abuses.

Section 498A of IPC enacted in 1983 defined "cruelty by husband or relatives of husband" as a new cognizable offence. As in the new DVA, under Section 498A too, cruelty was given a very wide ranging definition to include violence that leads to bodily harm, or danger to life, limb or physical health, but also includes endangerment of mental health, harassment and emotional torture through verbal abuse.

In addition, Section 498A made it obligatory for the police to take prompt action and arrest all those named by a woman alleging cruelty by her husband and in laws. The bail in such cases could be opposed and delayed. Thus in many cases those accused of "cruelty" to wives or daughters-in-law got punished even before the trial actually began.

Given the corrupt and lawless ways of police, this provision came to be misused and abused widely by the police to extract bribes as well as by unscrupulous women and their lawyers to blackmail the groom?s family even on trumped up charges. Manushi has dealt with numerous cases whereby innocent men and their families have been devastated by unscrupulous wives and daughters-in- law.

It is not just men but even a lot of women, who have suffered the consequences of irresponsible use of Section 498A, believe that it is extremely one sided and an instrument of blackmail rather than of securing justice. On the other hand many genuine victims of violence hesitate to seek legal redress under 498A because it would mean getting their husbands and in laws sent behind bars. While many kids may support their abused mother in seeking divorce, most do not support their mothers in getting their fathers sent to jail even if they have personally been victims of abuse because having a father convicted and sent to jail mars and stigmatises the life of children as well (See my article: "Underused and Abused: Laws against Domestic Violence" in issue No. 120 also available on the Manushi website).

So deep is the reaction against this easy-to-manipulate-law that in recent years senior police officers, including women officers in-charge of Crime Against Women Cells (CAWCs), have let it be known to those handling such cases to go slow on booking cases under 498A. This means even genuine cases of abuse end up being viewed with mistrust.

Implementation Machinery

Section 8 of the law provides for the creation, and stipulates the responsibilities of Protection Officers (POs).These officers, to be appointed by state governments, will be under the jurisdiction and control of the court, and will be responsible to the court for monitoring the cases of domestic abuse.

The PO has to assist the court in making a Domestic Incident Report (DIR) or an application for a Protection Order on behalf of the aggrieved woman and/or child. POs will ensure that aggrieved people are provided legal aid, medical services, safe shelter and other required assistance.

POs are supposed to ensure that necessary information regarding Service Providers is made available to the woman or child alleging violence and that orders for monetary relief are complied with. Most important of all, the PO can be penalised for failing/ refusing to discharge his/her duty, provided that prior sanction of the state government is obtained for this purpose. They invite a penalty of Rs 20,000 and/or a prison term of up to one year for failing to do their job.

Service Providers

POs have been given the power to register Service Providers who are defined by the law as private organisations, which are recognised under the Companies Act or Societies Registration Act.

They will have to register with the state government in order to qualify as Service Providers. An organisation can be registered as a SP if it has provided services to women in distress for at least two years prior to seeking registration under Section 10 (1) of the DVA. In addition, Magistrates who are to hear cases under DVA are empowered to appoint counselors under Section 14 (1) of the Act who are to assist the petitioner and report to the Magistrate?s Court.

The new law, thus, recognises the role of voluntary organisations in addressing the issue of domestic violence and enables NGOs working for women?s rights to register as Service Providers under the Act. A Service Provider is protected for all actions done in good faith, in the exercise of the powers under this Act, towards the prevention of commission of domestic violence.

The Service Providers will, among other things, have to record the Domestic Incident Report, arrange for medical examination of the complainant, ensure that she is provided accommodation in a shelter home, if she so requires.

Unrealistic Expectations

How many NGOs even in metropolises, leave alone small towns and villages, have the resources and capacity to provide such comprehensive services?

Genuine shelter homes do not exist in most cities leave alone in rural areas.

The few government run shelter homes that exist are often dens of corruption. Also there is no provision for reimbursing the NGOs for providing these services. Thus the responsibility for making this law work has been put on a non-existent machinery. The speed with which bogus and corrupt NGOs have come up in India, it is not unreasonable to fear that a whole range of goons and anti social elements will manage to register themselves as Service Providers much faster than genuine NGOs.

No budgetary allocation has so far been provided by the Centre to assist states in paying for the expenses involved in providing such comprehensive assistance to women. To insert a state level government official, a PO, into the machinery without considering the financial burden put on the states is likely to lead to grief. Chances are that in most states, this function is likely to be added to the existing job responsibilities of government officials already on the ground without figuring out if they can handle the burden of their new job along with their other tasks. Alternatively, state governments who are usually cash starved would find good reason to delay forever the setting up of this machinery.Some state governments have already refused to operationlise the Act on the ground that Protection Officers have not been appointed yet.

If such comprehensive services were indeed available to the DV victim as a consequence of her complaint, and these same services are difficult to obtain otherwise because of their scarcity, what would prevent poor women from filing false charges simply to avail shelter, medical help and financial support?

Giving Exaggerated Hopes?

This Act raises several new problems, repeats some of the mistakes of the old laws and raises many unresolved questions.

The "Rules" that define the institutional framework for the new Act came into force with effect from October 26, 2006 ? a full year after the DVA was added to the statute book. This delay is itself instructive and points out that the new law may remain a paper tiger or used haphazardly since the elaborate countrywide machinery mandated under the DVA is nowhere in sight.

The enactment of the new DVA is an open admission that the existing provisions of law against violence are a failure. If such a strong law as Section 498A proved ineffective or came to be misused widely, why should we expect that the new law will act as a magic wand to be used honestly against genuine offenders?

As a supportive measure for 498A, provisions were made for the creation of Crimes Against Women Cells in every police district. They are in principle supposed to do what POs have been assigned to do in the new Act. The performance of the CAWCs depends largely on the level of commitment and sensitivity of the person heading a particular Cell. Given that their personnel are drawn from the normal police cadre CAWCs functioned as well or as badly as their parent body. In many places they have not afforded protection to women even against the most blatant and devastating forms of domestic violence. Why should we expect that the new officials would be correctly chosen, well trained, and made to do an honest job for victims of domestic violence? What is to be the role of CAWCs after the creation of new machinery as envisaged by the new Act? Will they be folded up or will they exist as a parallel system? The state governments have been given a year to work out these problems; little is known of their preparations for implementation of the Act.

The Family Courts Act of 1984 was enacted with the purpose of providing civil remedies for domestic disputes and a more conducive atmosphere for the settlement of marital conflicts. They had the following provisions :

The jurisdiction for claiming maintenance was shifted from the Magistrate?s court to de-link matrimonial matters from those which deal with ordinary criminal cases like thefts, kidnapping and pickpocketing.

Counselling of couples as a first step to see if their differences could be settled through negotiation and neutral but woman-friendly mediation rather than take them straight for legal remedies which have adversarial processes inbuilt into them.

Reduce the role of lawyers who tend to complicate matters by dragging out cases for their personal benefit, and cut down litigation costs by allowing petitioners to argue their case in person.

Club together divorce and maintenance proceedings and bring them under one roof so that women need not have to fight parallel battles in different courts for different types of relief.

Family Courts have failed to deliver because the Government did not allow them the space and resources to function well.

It is noteworthy that during the more than two decades since the law was passed, 18 states and union territories (including Delhi) have still failed to set up Family Courts.

Lawyers in many states have succeeded in stalling these institutions because matrimonial disputes have become a very lucrative business. They lose business if litigants can manage without them, as envisaged by the Family Courts Act.

Where Family Courts exist they function poorly because the government has not provided enough resources for the required infrastructure. Nor have the costs of litigation come down. The system of counselling has also remained at best a mere formality and at worst turned into a system that forces women to accept unfavourable settlements because no serious effort has been made to train and orient the required number of social workers to support women claimants.

If skilled and professional family counsellors in adequate numbers were not appointed to assist Family Courts, why do we assume that the Government will somehow manage to get Protection Officers of the required calibre and commitment with the passing of DVA?

DVA in a way amounts to a step backwards because the cases will be tried in a Magistrate?s Court along with petty criminal cases whereas Family Courts are presided over by District and Sessions judges who are higher in status than Magistrates. Will the Family Courts exist as a parallel and competing institution after the coming into force of the DVA? Or will they be allowed to languish even further now that the government is required to set up a whole new machinery? Can the new DVA be operationalised if state governments fail or refuse to set up the required machinery, as happened with the Family Courts?

Guns without Trained Soldiers

[Note from Vinayak : and guns aimed only at men !!]

Though a product of good intentions, this Act is likely to open the floodgates of messy litigation even further because it is too pompous and ambitious. Furthermore, it has not has not provided any deterrents for litigants, lawyers and police found misusing the law with bogus allegations. Nor does it provide compensation for families who are falsely implicated and suffer the ignominy of arrests and jail terms under Section 498A without deserving to do so.

Laws are akin to weapons. Just as the best of guns cannot help win a war if the soldiers in whose hands they are placed are ill trained, irresponsible, cowardly and prone to mindless violence. Similarly, without an honest, efficient and accountable law enforcement machinery, even the best of laws become useless. In India we have not yet learnt to craft our laws judiciously because we have no experience of their honest implementation. And yet, every time a law shows signs of dismal failure, the Government responds by passing yet another new law or amending the existing law to make it more stringent and/or more wideranging, and then pretending it has handed over a new magic wand for the empowerment of women.

In the process, the government makes a mockery of its own intentions as well as its ability to deliver justice.

Unless the task of introducing far reaching police and judicial reforms is undertaken with urgency, attempts at new legislation are not likely to yield much good.

original article at :
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070124&fname=madhu&sid=1

biased and one sided reporting by Times of India !!

We oppose biased and one sided reporting by Times of India !!


Please see report below which GIVES ONLY THE WIFE'S version !!

WHAT ABOUT THE HUSBAND'S VERSION ???

Today there are 1000s of men who are victims of FALSE dowry cases. Irate wives and daughter(s) in law have been regularly filing false cases to wreck vengeance and arrest their in-laws on trumped up charges

Please refer following blogs for more on FALSE DOWRY cases
http://498a.blogspot.com/
http://saveindianfamily.org/
http://www.mynation.net/
http://www.mynation.net/

Gone are the days when all women were wanting a calm and peaceful household. Unscrupulous women today have taken to filing false cases on the husband when caught on adultery. Many wish to end a married life quickly and hence resort to criminal (dowry cases) as the civil courts drag on

This case (below) HAS just been filed !! NOTHING HAS BEEN PROVEN. It's just the WIFE'S statements against her husband and In - Laws ... nothing more

When NOTHING has been proven and the case has NOT BEEN TRIED BY THE COURT how can Times of India call the woman a victim and the man a criminal ??

This is trial by media !!!

Trial by media has been criticized by the Supreme court of India

This is slander

Times of India SHOULD have published the husband and his family's version as well

Men of this free world ! wake up !!

Write and oppose such slander

Stop FALSE and one sided reports that are published BEFORE THE CASE is tried and decreed by a competent court of law

In 98% of the dowry cases the Husband is acquitted AFTER years and years of suffering / going through the various courts and processes and police questioning

This is a cancer that is breaking Indian society

Do NOT fall for this media bias !!!


Regards
Vinayak
Jan 28th 2007





Dowry victim puts hubby, in-laws in jail



[ 27 Jan, 2007 0050hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]


RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates

MUMBAI: Jayshree Kapadia was a picture of determination as she stood outside the Borivli metropolitan court with her nine-month-old daughter Khushi on Thursday.

The court had remanded her husband Nalin Kapadia and her in-laws to police custody for torturing her physically and mentally.

"Initially, the arguments and beatings were for money that they wanted me to get from my parents. But after Khushi's birth, they started demanding that she be abandoned in an orphanage or left to die since they didn't want a female child. My fight is to ensure that my daughter gets her due," she said.

[Note : Where is the husband's rebuttal ? statements ?]

Jayshree (25), formerly a resident of Bhayandar, married Nalin (24), a diamond polisher, in March 2005. Theirs was an arranged marriage.

The couple moved in with Nalin's parents at their Rawalpada residence in Dahisar. According to the police, things were fine for the first two months after marriage. Jayshree's in-laws Mannubhai and Manisha Kapadia then started making demands for money from her.

"At the time of my wedding, my parents had given me 15 tolas of gold and some cash, collectively worth Rs 125,000. These valuables and even the clothes that I had brought along are still in my husband's possession," Jayshree said.

According to her complaint to the police, the chawl where she lived with her husband and in-laws was going to be redeveloped.

"The builder offered my in-laws a flat in the new building. But more funds were going to be required. So, the pressure on me to get more cash and jewellery from my parents started increasing," she said, adding that she was regularly beaten.

According to her statement, her father-in-law's cousin, Purshottam Kapadia, who has also been arrested in the case, instigated the rest of the family against her.

On March 26, 2006, Jayshree delivered a baby girl. After living with her parents for a month, she returned to her husband's Dahisar home with the newborn, Khushi.

"Ever since they found out that the baby was female, my husband and in-laws kept telling me to abandon her. When I refused, they threatened and harassed me," Jayshree said.

Eventually, in June, Jayshree approached joint commissioner (crime) Meera Borwankar and narrated her ordeal. Borwankar then directed her to the Dahisar police station.

"A complaint was registered against Nalin, his parents and Purshottam Kapadia on Wednesday under sections 498 (A), 406 and 34 for subjecting a woman to cruelty and for criminal breach of trust," said investigating officer Vishwanath Rathod.

Nalin and his parents have been remanded to police custody by the metropolitan magistrate while Purshottam Kapadia has been remanded to judicial custody.

[Note : elderly parents have been false arrested JUST to throw them out of their homes !!. Many have lost their life's savings. Many have lost their name in society by being false arrested .... Is this what we are doing to elders in the 58th year of this republic ?? ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/Dowry_victim_puts_hubby_in-laws_in_jail/articleshow/1479315.cms

Wake up !! or else your son may be the NEXT target !!!

State terrorism & murder WITH the SUPPORT of a scheming wife !!!

This is an Appeal to all public spirited citizens of India


Stop the police from ENTERING A HOME or BREAKING A FAMILY

There is large scale misuse of wife friendly laws in India.

Section 498A of the IPC, Section 125 of IPC and the Domestic Violence Act have been used to

- Kill Husbands (like the news below)
- Corner husbands and COLLECT BRIBES !!!
- Use police to throw elders out of their homes
- Arrest and detain (without warrant) unmarried sisters and relatives of the husband

These and many more atrocities are committed in the name of the law.

Scheming wives have colluded with arrogant and brutal police who have killed innocent husbands. Wife friendly and biased laws are abetting this GENOCIDE

Many husbands have been looted. Parents of husbands have been driven away from their homes or looted.

We appeal to all public minded citizens of India to champion for

- NON interference of police in matrimonial problems. these should be handled by marriage counselors or by competent family courts

- NON arrest of elders above the age of 50 based on JUST A complaint from a daughter in law

- Making Section 498A of IPC and similar sections bailable

- Making working women RESPONSIBLE for contributing money to the household


Wake up !! or else your son may be the NEXT target !!!


regards
Vinayak
Jan 25 2007


State Terrorism: State Misandry and the Murder of Prabhash Singh

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hubby_booked_by_wife/articleshow/1411906.cms

Patna & Madhepura, Bihar, India: Little did Prabhash Kumar Singh's wife know that a trivial complaint she had lodged against her husband a few days ago, accusing him of torture and assault, would cost his life.

On Monday, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Shivshankar Chaudhary of the Alamnagar Police Station of the District of Madhepura picked up Prabhash from Khurhan village in connection with case. After arriving at the police station, he demanded Rs 10,000 from Prabhash to "settle" the case.

Prabhash pleaded that the matter had been amicable settled by the local panchayat and that there was no reason to pursue the case.

This enraged the ASI who continued to rain blows and kicks on Prabhash until he slumped to the ground. The cop then dumped the victim in the lock-up where he succumbed to his injuries. On learning about his death, the ASI fled the scene.

Interestingly, Brajesh Kumar was the Investigating Officer (I.O.) of the case and Chaudhary had no right to poke his nose into it. Victim's younger brother Ranjeet Kumar claimed that Prabhash was brutally beaten in full public view. "He (Prabhash) was beaten senseless and dumped in the lock-up," he said.

Madhepura District Magistrate (DM) Rajesh Kumar later visited the spot and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter. Sources said that a Police Complaint (First Information Report or FIR) was lodged against three policemen who were eventually suspended.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors conducted the post-mortem examination on the victim's body at the Madhepura Sadar hospital. The viscera of the body will be sent to Patna for chemical examination.

Earlier, agitated villagers prevented the police from taking the body into their possession. They sought action against the guilty. The villagers relented after senior police officers assured them of proper action at the earliest.

DV Act Civil Law ?? SMOKE screen and FAR from reality

This misguiding report is a SMOKE screen and FAR from reality

Look at the issues below

] Lawyers' Collective (a Delhi-based
] organisation), along with several other
] associations and organisations across the
] country, had been demanding such an Act for quite
] a long time. Although we wanted a lot more, this
] is just a beginning, that will take the struggle


one needs to really find out who these lawyers collective is ?

Is it another misguided patriarchial organisation which imagines that all women are sati savithris

Or

Is it SOME feminist(s) in disguise ??


] People must understand that this is a civil law
] and the scope for police comes in only at a very
] late stage- when things seem to go out of hand!


who decides that things have gone out of hand ?? the Irrate daughter in Law ? Can she ill treat everyone at home freely ? IF this law is so good, WHY IS THAT NO COMPLAINT CAN BE MADE AGAINST THE WIFE ? Why is the HUSBAND the ONLY target of this blooming act ??

What is this smoke screen about "..ghar jodne.."

if this is a CIVIL LAW why are men arrested UNDER DV act ? where was the protection officer when the first ever arrest under DV act was made by the police in TN ? there were DV cases and arrests ALL OVER THE country UNDER DV act !! if this IS a civil law, how did the arrests take place ? do these lawyers want men to be slaves at the hands of the women ?


] in the Act. The other provisions, such as
] qualifications and other provisions, will be
] decided by the state government. So, we actually
] see that anyone and everyone is becoming a rescue
] officer. The ball is now in the court of the
] media and the NGOs, to build pressure and make
] right persons the rescue officers.
]

so THEY HAVE ALREADY STARTED THE INDUSTRY !!! This is a similar child support Industry and wife support industry in the west THAT WISHES TO MAKE MONEY AT THE COST OF THE HARASSED HUSBAND. Net result, broken homes all over the west

] So, we actually
] see that anyone and everyone is becoming a rescue
] officer.

This so called Delhi based lawyers group is accepting that "...anyone and everyone is becomming a "..rescue officer .." to rescue whome ? the irrate DAUGHTER IN LAW ??

Look at the pathetic escapism here ... "..now the media should rescue the act !! it seems the media should make the protection officers or rescue officers good people !!! what a SAD joke where men are at the receiving end :-(


regards
Vinayak
Jan 25 2007



http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=219182

] Domestic Violence Act is civil, police may come
] in only at a later stage'
]
] Tarannum Manjul
]
] Lucknow, January 24: * Firstly, how do you
] perceive the Act ? Lot of people have been
] calling it as a "Ghar todne wala bill" , or an
] Act which threatens to break homes. Your comment.
]
] I would like to make this clear in the first
] place itself. This is not a 'home breaker' or a
] 'ghar todne wala act'. We activists and legal
] experts call it a 'ghar jodne wala' or 'home
] maker act'. People should not fear it, but women
] can now feel more secure from all types of
] domestic violence.
]
] * This Act has come after a lot of struggle,
] right? So, is it actually an end to the problems
] of all women suffering from domestic violence?
]
] Lawyers' Collective (a Delhi-based
] organisation), along with several other
] associations and organisations across the
] country, had been demanding such an Act for quite
] a long time. Although we wanted a lot more, this
] is just a beginning, that will take the struggle
] for women's rights somewhere. We may not say that
] it will end the problem, but it will surely give
] voice to women who are suffering and do not want
] to make it a criminal case.
]
]
] * Many people are still confused whether the Act
] comes under civil law or a criminal law. What is
] the sphere for conviction and police in this Act?
]
] People must understand that this is a civil law
] and the scope for police comes in only at a very
] late stage- when things seem to go out of hand!
] Initially, a woman will be approaching the
] protection (or rescue) officer appointed by the
] state, who will take care of the matter. Whether
] it is lodging the complaint with the judicial
] officers or calling the police or even referring
] the matter to any organisation, the entire task
] would be done by the rescue officer.
]
] * Are there any rules or norms for the state
] government or the Union Government about making
] the Act more clear and more available to the
] masses?
]
] This is the first time that any Act has clearly
] stated that the details of the Act should be made
] clear to the masses by the state government.
] Infact, the Act makes this the responsibility of
] the state government. In Section 11 of the PWDV
] Act, it is stated that this Act should be widely
] publicised by the state government. It may be
] through newspaper advertisements, through the
] district officials or through any other mass
] medium.
]
] * When the Act talks about protection officers,
] what are the provisions planned for them?
]
] The Act has stated that the tenure for the
] protection officer is three years. But
] ironically, there is no other provision mentioned
] in the Act. The other provisions, such as
] qualifications and other provisions, will be
] decided by the state government. So, we actually
] see that anyone and everyone is becoming a rescue
] officer. The ball is now in the court of the
] media and the NGOs, to build pressure and make
] right persons the rescue officers.
]

DV Act Civil Law ?? SMOKE screen and FAR from reality

This misguiding report is a SMOKE screen and FAR from reality

Look at the issues below

] Lawyers' Collective (a Delhi-based
] organisation), along with several other
] associations and organisations across the
] country, had been demanding such an Act for quite
] a long time. Although we wanted a lot more, this
] is just a beginning, that will take the struggle


one needs to really find out who these lawyers collective is ?

Is it another misguided patriarchial organisation which imagines that all women are sati savithris

Or

Is it SOME feminist(s) in disguise ??


] People must understand that this is a civil law
] and the scope for police comes in only at a very
] late stage- when things seem to go out of hand!


who decides that things have gone out of hand ?? the Irrate daughter in Law ? Can she ill treat everyone at home freely ? IF this law is so good, WHY IS THAT NO COMPLAINT CAN BE MADE AGAINST THE WIFE ? Why is the HUSBAND the ONLY target of this blooming act ??

What is this smoke screen about "..ghar jodne.."

if this is a CIVIL LAW why are men arrested UNDER DV act ? where was the protection officer when the first ever arrest under DV act was made by the police in TN ? there were DV cases and arrests ALL OVER THE country UNDER DV act !! if this IS a civil law, how did the arrests take place ? do these lawyers want men to be slaves at the hands of the women ?


] in the Act. The other provisions, such as
] qualifications and other provisions, will be
] decided by the state government. So, we actually
] see that anyone and everyone is becoming a rescue
] officer. The ball is now in the court of the
] media and the NGOs, to build pressure and make
] right persons the rescue officers.
]

so THEY HAVE ALREADY STARTED THE INDUSTRY !!! This is a similar child support Industry and wife support industry in the west THAT WISHES TO MAKE MONEY AT THE COST OF THE HARASSED HUSBAND. Net result, broken homes all over the west

] So, we actually
] see that anyone and everyone is becoming a rescue
] officer.

This so called Delhi based lawyers group is accepting that "...anyone and everyone is becomming a "..rescue officer .." to rescue whome ? the irrate DAUGHTER IN LAW ??

Look at the pathetic escapism here ... "..now the media should rescue the act !! it seems the media should make the protection officers or rescue officers good people !!! what a SAD joke where men are at the receiving end :-(


regards
Vinayak
Jan 25 2007



http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=219182

] Domestic Violence Act is civil, police may come
] in only at a later stage'
]
] Tarannum Manjul
]
] Lucknow, January 24: * Firstly, how do you
] perceive the Act ? Lot of people have been
] calling it as a "Ghar todne wala bill" , or an
] Act which threatens to break homes. Your comment.
]
] I would like to make this clear in the first
] place itself. This is not a 'home breaker' or a
] 'ghar todne wala act'. We activists and legal
] experts call it a 'ghar jodne wala' or 'home
] maker act'. People should not fear it, but women
] can now feel more secure from all types of
] domestic violence.
]
] * This Act has come after a lot of struggle,
] right? So, is it actually an end to the problems
] of all women suffering from domestic violence?
]
] Lawyers' Collective (a Delhi-based
] organisation), along with several other
] associations and organisations across the
] country, had been demanding such an Act for quite
] a long time. Although we wanted a lot more, this
] is just a beginning, that will take the struggle
] for women's rights somewhere. We may not say that
] it will end the problem, but it will surely give
] voice to women who are suffering and do not want
] to make it a criminal case.
]
]
] * Many people are still confused whether the Act
] comes under civil law or a criminal law. What is
] the sphere for conviction and police in this Act?
]
] People must understand that this is a civil law
] and the scope for police comes in only at a very
] late stage- when things seem to go out of hand!
] Initially, a woman will be approaching the
] protection (or rescue) officer appointed by the
] state, who will take care of the matter. Whether
] it is lodging the complaint with the judicial
] officers or calling the police or even referring
] the matter to any organisation, the entire task
] would be done by the rescue officer.
]
] * Are there any rules or norms for the state
] government or the Union Government about making
] the Act more clear and more available to the
] masses?
]
] This is the first time that any Act has clearly
] stated that the details of the Act should be made
] clear to the masses by the state government.
] Infact, the Act makes this the responsibility of
] the state government. In Section 11 of the PWDV
] Act, it is stated that this Act should be widely
] publicised by the state government. It may be
] through newspaper advertisements, through the
] district officials or through any other mass
] medium.
]
] * When the Act talks about protection officers,
] what are the provisions planned for them?
]
] The Act has stated that the tenure for the
] protection officer is three years. But
] ironically, there is no other provision mentioned
] in the Act. The other provisions, such as
] qualifications and other provisions, will be
] decided by the state government. So, we actually
] see that anyone and everyone is becoming a rescue
] officer. The ball is now in the court of the
] media and the NGOs, to build pressure and make
] right persons the rescue officers.
]

Ex-minister's (SECOND) daughter-in-law seeks divorce (too) claiming "dowry Harassment"

Ex-minister's (SECOND) daughter-in-law seeks divorce (too) claiming "dowry Harassment"


http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7B4B3624C4-36E3-4ED5-B319-1F35FDF09B39%7D&CATEGORYNAME=Tamil+Nadu

Ex-minister's daughter-in-law seeks divorce

Salem, Jan 17:

Close on the heels of filing of a dowry harassment complaint by his first daughter-in-law, former Tamil Nadu Health Minister and AIADMK district secretary S Semmalai's second daughter-in-law has filed a divorce petition making a similar allegation.

Pushpa (22), wife of Dr S Vijayanand (26), the second son of Semmalai, yesterday moved the family court here for divorce alleging that her husband's family demanded Rs 30 lakh to enable him take up post-graduation in medicine.

Pushpa, married three months ago, also alleged that she was forced out of the house.

Only last week, a case of dowry harassment had been registered against Semmalai, his wife and first son on a complaint from his first daughter-in-law Vani Preetha.

In her complaint at the all-woman police station at Mettur, Preetha, daughter of DSP, Salem (untouchability) Muthusamy, had alleged that her husband Ezhil Amuthan and mother-in-law had beaten her up demanding Rs 10 lakh as dowry. (Agencies)


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


>
>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dowry_case_against_ex-ministers_wife/articleshow/1185657.cms
>
>Dowry case against former minister's wife
>
>
>[ 14 Jan, 2007 2023hrs ISTPTI ]
>
>
>SALEM: A dowry harassment case has been filed
>against former AIADMK minister Senmalai's son and
>wife by his daughter-in-law.
>
>According to police sources, Vanipritha (26),
>daughter of Mettur SP Muthusamy, filed the case
>on Saturday at the Mettur All Women's police
>station against her husband Alil Amuthan(32) and
>his mother Pushpa(48).
>
>As per the complaint, Vani who got married to
>Alil in 2004, had brought 100 sovereigns weighing
>gold ornaments and a car as dowry.
>
>After the marriage, she had been harassed for
>more dowry, Vani alleged.
>
>The husband and mother-in-law had warned her
>that she could live at their house only if she
>brought Rs 10 lakh more from her parents, she
>claimed.
>
>Vani who left her husband's house with her one-
>year old girl child a few days back, lodged a
>complaint with the police.
>
>Police sources said they were investigating into
>the matter.

NEITHER the minister NOR his son NOR his wife were arrested

>SALEM: A dowry harassment case has been filed
>against former AIADMK minister Senmalai's son and
>wife by his daughter-in-law.

one can be dead sure that
- NEITHER the minister
- NOR his son
- NOR his wife were arrested

Had it been the case of a common man, he, his mum, and even his Bahbhi could have been arrested and / or harassed !!

>Police sources said they were investigating into
>the matter.

IF ANY ....the police must have politely called the minister and told him how sad they were to know of this and .....blah ....blah..... and how they are "...STILL INVESTIGATING ..."

SUMMARY :

Its just law of the jungle out there

The weak get eaten ...

what's the use of the Supreme court saying that fundamental rights are to be protected and that fundamental rights are sacrosanct !!




regards


>
>
>Dowry case against former minister's wife
>Posted by: "Sachit Dalal" sachit_v@yahoo.com
>Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:07 am (PST)
>
>
>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dowry_case_against_ex-ministers_wife/articleshow/1185657.cms
>
>Dowry case against former minister's wife
>
>
>[ 14 Jan, 2007 2023hrs ISTPTI ]
>
>
>SALEM: A dowry harassment case has been filed
>against former AIADMK minister Senmalai's son and
>wife by his daughter-in-law.
>
>According to police sources, Vanipritha (26),
>daughter of Mettur SP Muthusamy, filed the case
>on Saturday at the Mettur All Women's police
>station against her husband Alil Amuthan(32) and
>his mother Pushpa(48).
>
>As per the complaint, Vani who got married to
>Alil in 2004, had brought 100 sovereigns weighing
>gold ornaments and a car as dowry.
>
>After the marriage, she had been harassed for
>more dowry, Vani alleged.
>
>The husband and mother-in-law had warned her
>that she could live at their house only if she
>brought Rs 10 lakh more from her parents, she
>claimed.
>
>Vani who left her husband's house with her one-
>year old girl child a few days back, lodged a
>complaint with the police.
>
>Police sources said they were investigating into
>the matter.
regards, vinayak

My post above is Subject to
----------------------------
1. my idea of *self help* which is very essential : http://tinyurl.com/pxcfz
2. standard disclaimers as in http://tinyurl.com/947u9

Important
----------
A short preamble : http://tinyurl.com/hatew

Reports of Dowry Law Misuse : http://tinyurl.com/tdkx6
or at http://tinyurl.com/v5vp8

Shotgun weddings !!!

Shotgun weddings !!!

Over two decades ago, MEN were held to Ransom mainly in LAWLESS places like Bihar

In these cases The Woman and her parents kidnapped a boy and got him married off at Gun point. Not only was the marriage a forced marriage, goon later kept tab of the couple to ensure that the man remained enslaved. Men as usual never opened to the public as this was BELOW their dignity to accept such servitude

Now the phenomenon of holding bridegrooms under leash has become "..truly Indian..". Men are being held to ransom, using FALSE DOWRY CASES - all over India. Just as India went International, this phenomenon too went International. These days an increasing no of NRI are being held to Ransom by RAMPANT misuse of the anti dowry law, i.e. false cases under Sec 498A of the IPC and or other sections DP Act

Adding "mirch" to this Soap Opera is the recent Vampire in the name of Domestic Violence Act. Not only can wives hold the man to ransom, but even live in women can hold a hapless man to ransom as per the New DV

Logic seems to be : "... when Laloo can go international and speak at Harvard etc. why NOT make the Bihari tragedy international ?.."



Vinayak
15th Jan 2007
Makar Sankaranthi



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City_Supplements/Delhi_Times/On_a_wedding_shot/articleshow/1186291.cms

]
] On a wedding shot
]
]
] Nimisha Tiwari
]
] [ 14 Jan, 2007 2110hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
]
]
]
] Women have no say in choosing their partner in
] marriage. Allegedly, that's the norm. Here's a
] jolt - they do! Incidentally, at gunpoint.
]
] Fathom this: Samman, an educated guy from Mumbai
] visits a friend in Bihar at a wedding. There, he
] meets Kakul, the pretty daughter of a politico-
] business magnate from Patna and charms her with
] his flirtatious ways. So far, so good. But soon
] realises that he is a consenting, yet mute
] spectator, at his own wedding with Kakul at
] gunpoint!
]
] Bizarre, yet true! This phenomenon of 'marriage
] at gunpoint' has found its roots many years ago
] in northern Bihar, in retaliation to the dowry
] system. Often called the pakarva bibah (marriage
] by abduction) in the rustic lingo, over the past
] two decades, this system has become an accepted
] norm, rather ruthlessly though.
]
] Ajai Sinha, director of Ghar... ek sapnaa, the
] forthcoming soap on SaharaOne Television, which
] promises to capture this phenomenon with a punch,
] says, "Since it's an unknown ritual, I decided to
] delve into it. What's further interesting is that
] the bride comes to her husband's house thinking
] it's 'love' that has brought them together,
] oblivious of the forced route."
]
] Actor Manoj Bajpai who hails from Bihar, says,
] "An increasing number of multiplexes are no sign
] of progress. I would believe that the society has
] truly evolved if it would get rid of the dowry
] system. Sixteen years ago, during my Delhi
] University days, my friend faced the brunt of
] this reality. He could not visit his parents (in
] Bihar) for four years because of the fear of
] being abducted and forced into marriage. His
] parents just asked him to stay put there.
] Honestly, I feel life is worse for a woman in
] this case since a forced marriage is a soul
] torturing process."
]
] Bengali actor, Sayantani Ghosh, the female lead
] of the soap, affirms that this concept was a
] revelation to her. Gung-ho about acting in a real
] life saga, she says, "My role has many an
] emotion. When I realise the truth,
]
] I instinctively express - 'Kaash mere saath aisa
] na hota', which is also the punch of the story."
] In this scenario, it is indeed ironical that a
] woman 'chooses' her husband, but real happiness
] is a chanced moment...
]
] Premiering tonight, watch the rigmarole of a
] happy-yet-not-satisfying wedded life in an urban
] set-up in Ghar...ek sapnaa at 10 pm. Catch this
] soap Monday-Friday on SaharaOne Television.

Sex at 18 - To All those who advocated that EARLY MARRIAGE was wrong !!

Upto 50 years ago, in most parts of India, Girls got married at about 17 ~ 18

Well some got married earlier, but 17 ~ 18 was sort of the MEDIAN (not average) but Median age of marriage

Then came the Nehruvists and the Leftists and the feminists and "you name it what ists"

They all yelled from rooftops that marrying women at the age of 17 ~ 18 was something close to sin

So the result is most women get married above 22 - the median might be close to 24 ~ 25 now [I do NOT exactly know]

However as per report below, women need sex, women [call them girls !1] HAVE sex from 18

So what happens to the period from 18 [when then need sex] TO 24 when then get married ??

As per report below they have what is called sex outside marriage or sex before marriage !!

They are having sex at 18. Many are having sex without a condom or any other protection..... and all this is Sex without consulting a gynecologist. Sex much before marriage.

Are these safe ? .. what happens to all those un wanted pregnancies ..who pays the costs ... and what does this do the psychea of the woman ?

Well ..... god save the husband who is at the butts end of all the feminist laws

GOD SAVE THE INDIAN FAMILY !!


regards
vinayak



http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMDcvMDEvMDYjQXIwMTQwMg==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

] Publication:Times Of India Delhi; Date:Jan 6,
] 2007; Section:Times Nation;
]
] Page Number:14
]
] '58% girls have unprotected, unplanned sex'
]
] Sumati Yengkhom | TNN
]
] Kolkata: She is aged about 18 and dating. When
] the opportunity arises she and her boyfriend go
] to bed. Though the sexual encounter was
] pleasurable, reality dawns the next morning and
] hounds her till she gets her periods.
]
] The girl is one of 22,000 college-going
] students, who were part of a six-city survey
] carried out by Federation of Obstetrics and
] Gynaecological Society of India (FOGSI). ''I was
] dead scared,'' she said, recalling the horror of
] the next morning. ''What if I got pregnant? What
] made matters worse was that I could not talk
] about this to anybody, not even my mother.''
]
]
] FOGSI, in its survey - carried out in New Delhi,
] Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and
] Chennai, found that hers is not an isolated
] experience among sexually active girls. Its
] report, which will be released at the All India
] Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Kolkata
] in the first week of January, is certain to
] startle delegates.
]
] The findings - based on FOGSI's two-day 'Let's
] Talk' campaign among college girls - reveals that
] among sexually active girls, the first
] intercourse of some 58% is unplanned and hence
] unprotected. More than a third of the remaining
] 42% who plan their first sexual encounter do not
] use contraceptives, exposing themselves to
] unwanted pregnancy and a range of sexually-
] transmitted diseases (STDs).
]
] The report raises questions about the efficacy
] of efforts by government agencies in promoting
] safe sex. ''The findings prove that
] advertisements on safe sex have hardly made any
] impact,'' said Mandakini Parihar, chairperson of
] FOGSI's family welfare committee.
]
] Dr Basab Mukherjee said, ''This trend of high-
] risk sexual behaviour is alarming, especially
] because the young get only half-baked information
] through advertisements. This makes them all the
] more vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy and STDs.''
]
] Parihar said based on the report, it becomes
] essential that sex education should begin from
] school. ''They should be told about the human
] body, its development, puberty, menstruation and
] the like at the middle school level itself.
] Gradually, they should be taught the reproductive
] system. As they reach the age of 19, they need to
] be taught about sexuality, contraception and safe
] sex practices,'' said Parihar, who spearheaded
] 'Let's Talk'.
]
] The study also shows a majority of sexually-
] active girls shy away from consulting a
] gynaecologist, fearing their single status could
] lead to stigma. ''With malls and multiplexes, our
] society looks very modern. But when it comes to
] sex, it is still very conservative,'' says a
] sociologist Publication:Times Of India Delhi;
] Date:Jan 6, 2007; Section:Times Nation; Page
] Number:14
]
] '58% girls have unprotected, unplanned sex'