A Burning Cigar: The Other Side of the Laws

May 10, 2021

That was the day when I was returning from my workplace by bus. I took up a window seat, sat relaxed, and rested my head on it. As I was about to take a short nap, a disturbing picture caught my attention. Well, it was not the first time. I had seen similar incidents before. Yet, it seems disturbing every time. A lady was sitting on a seat reserved for the senior citizen with a burning cigarette in her hand. Beside her, an aged gentleman was standing. As there was no other seat vacant and the lady was not ready to leave the seat, he had no option left except to stand. Then, somehow the bus conductor found him a seat, and the issue was resolved for the time being.

Well, this is unjust. The conductor did not ask her to leave the reserved seat. If a guy was sitting over there, he would have been asked to leave it. Being a lady, the woman got the feminine sympathy, and the whole issue took a different tilt. Despite being a young, healthy woman, she got to sit there while the aged man had to leave for other options. He could not get the seat that was rightfully his. Anyways, this is not a single incident where women enjoy undue advantages. In our country, often, such unjust happenings lead to a serious threat to humanity. The women empowerment laws are many a time being misused quite severely.

So, in the name of women empowerment, are we heading towards a more grievous social construction than patriarchy?

False Rape Allegations: The Misuse of the Law

The women empowerment movement took place to smash down the rigid patriarchal structure. Till now, it has contributed much to shape the lives of women. And even today, it is empowering women in many cases at large. But, there is another side of the coin too. And unfortunately, people do not talk about it much. This article sheds light on this very issue along with some case studies. First, let’s have some real-time instances.

Case 1: A woman in Delhi lodged a false rape case against a man, a property dealer by profession. She accused him of taking her to a house in Dwarka and raping her on September 26, 2015. Later, she revealed that the accusation was false. She filed the FIR under pressure. The man did not rape her; instead, the physical relationship between them was consensual.

However, the Delhi court handling the case refused to take any action against the woman for filing a false rape case. As per the court, the woman accused the man under pressure not to defame or hurt him.

Case 2: This case is from Greater Noida. A woman was arrested in Greater Noida for blackmailing a man with the threat of a false rape case. As per the report, the two of them were friends, and the woman used to ask for money on several occasions. The man went to seek help from the police when the woman demanded 10 Lakh Rupees threatening him to accuse him of a false rape case. The case took place back in 2018.

Case 3: Another case was found at Gurgaon. A woman allegedly threatened a businessman to accuse him of a false rape charge and demanded 40 lakh rupees to let him off. As per the police report, they were good friends. They were also in a consensual physical relationship. Later, the woman blackmailed him with a demand for money. The man finally filed a case against her. And at the end, it was found that all of these were a part of a honey trap. The news was published in the NDTV news portal on September 14, 2019.

Case 4: This is another case from Noida. The police arrested a 30-year-old Amazon delivery boy after a customer accused him of rape attempts. As per the initial report, the delivery agent went to the woman’s place for an order replacement. But, somehow, they got involved in a heated argument regarding replacing the order. And later on, he allegedly tried to rape her.

Anyways, the woman did not come to record her statement in the police station even after being asked for several times. And, finally, she informed the police that she wanted to withdraw her case. As per her statement, her sister is the one who made the complaint. And she did not want to continue it. The delivery boy was released later on after primary questioning. There was no solid proof against him. But as per the norms, his job with Amazon was at stake during the investigation.

Case 5: A woman at Palaghar district in Mumbai registered an FIR against her boyfriend with an accusation that he had drugged and raped her. After the investigation, the case took a different shift. All of a sudden, the woman came up and pleaded to close the case. Later, she revealed that she filed the case due to family pressure. She was in a consensual relationship with him. To cover up this fact, she made up the story of rape in front of her family. However, Bombay police asked her to pay 25000 Rs. for a false rape complaint.

Case 6: As per a news report on Times of India, dated March 24, 2021, a teacher arrested 11 long years ago for allegedly raping a minor school student has been proven innocent and acquitted by the Bombay High Court on 22nd March 2021. He was lodged at Kolhapur Central prison in 2010. He was 28 years old then.

Rape Allegation: A Weapon?

The very fact that all of the cases point out is that women are now using sensitive issues like rape as a weapon. I am here not to ignore the real rape culture scenario prevalent in India. But, I would like to point out the other side of the laws related to rape. Think of the consequences if the mentioned cases were not appropriately investigated! The men would have to spend their lives with the allegation of such a crime which they have not done.

And also, think about the social pressure on the accused man during the legal proceedings. We always say that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. But, in such cases, the accused ones are already treated as guilty. From his professional career to the personal life, everything gets affected. Even if they are proven innocent later on, their lives have already been half-ruined till then.

There are countless such cases in our country where social injustice on men is going around. In many cases, men have been found non-guilty after long 15-16 years. And even after they are found innocent, no significant actions are taken against the false accusers. For most such cases, it is said that either the girl filed the case out of pressure or was not in a proper mental condition. Isn’t it unjust? You ruin a significant number of years of someone’s life and go away. And the man is left with a shattered heart, disturbed mindset, and a devastating career. For many men, they are the only earning members of their families. A single allegation messes it up all. Doesn’t this hit the minds of the false accusers? Well, this is not limited to the rape accusations. False sexual harassment allegations, false domestic violence cases are equally prevalent alongside.

False Allegations and its Consequences

It is seriously a big challenge for men nowadays to prove innocent in the age of #metoo. I have found many men saying, “Mujhe nahi baithna ladki ke pas, kuch idhar udhar ho gya to?” (I don’t want to sit by the side of a girl. What if something wrong happens? ) Somehow, they are scared of the false harassment allegations and the hassles after that. Every time a woman alleges a man is harassing her, the woman gets the majority’s sympathy without any investigation. Is it just? Instead of such quick sympathy, why can’t we understand and decode the whole happening and then talk?

There are many instances of such false harassment allegations. And in such cases media is so quick to judge the accused, which is alarming. Think about Jasleen Kaur – Sarabjit Singh case! A heated argument between the two followed by a viral post of the girl on social media convicted the guy as “abuser” and “pervert.” After investigation, it was revealed that the allegation was false. You can read the details of the case online in several news media portals. There are other such cases as well. Here, Sarabjit fought till the end and won. But, many do not have the resources and courage to move forward for a long time.

Domestic violence is another significant area where misuse of laws is quite prominent nowadays. The government implemented the law to stop the violence against women at home. But in reality, it is largely being used as a media to distort money. The law’s benefits somehow are not reaching properly to the genuine domestic violence victims, whereas opportunistic women are misusing it.

Rape is one of the most grievous crimes of the ages. Similarly, sexual harassment is another sensitive factor to be taken care of. But some of the women have made these serious issues a joke. They are shamelessly using these for their benefits. This is unjust to the men and also to the women who are the real survivor of these crimes.

Re-defining the Social Conjectures

Now it’s high time that we should re-think some of the socially-constructed conjectures. I hope this will bring a change in the ongoing scenario of the false allegation and its fatal consequence.

First, not all women are victims. They can be false accusers too.

Second, men get raped too. Yes, men from different age groups also face sexual abuse in many cases.

Third, do not judge quickly. The only allegation does not make the man guilty.

To sum up, the increasing misuse of women’s safety laws has compelled us to think about restructuring them. Even our judiciary system is re-thinking about it. As a result, now IPC 498 case accused is not arrested immediately, unlike before. Such modifications in the laws are, I feel, necessary to avoid the ongoing misuse of the laws. And, yes, only law cannot do it all. The collective mindset of society matters a lot. So, let’s bring change over there. Let’s teach our kids to respect every individual irrespective of gender and speak up against wrong deeds. Let us love humanity and make the world a better place.