By Manoj Kar
Kendrapara (Orissa), Oct 1: As women continue to storm the male bastion, quite a few men from this part of the state are crying foul and demanding protection from their aggressive spouses.

With anti-dowry law largely favouring the women resulting in its gross misuse, allegations pour in from husbands who are at the receiving end of persecution and harassment meted out to them by their spouses.

The beleaguered husbands driven up the wall have begun seeking the state women's commission to intervene and save them from rowdy wives
.
Instances are not far to seek. As many as 19 cases from battered husbands have reached the doorsteps of state women's commission.

Most of these typical complaints were taken up for investigation by police with SCW refusing to take up and address the plight of tormented men, according to social welfare wing of the district administration.

Ironically, this coastal region is infamous for dowry-related crimes. For a change, it is witness to yet another disturbing social malaise of marital discord of hard-pressed male folks. In what lends credence to recent controversial utterances of SCW chairperson that women are abusing anti-dowry law, as many as 19 male
victims have lodged harassment complaint against their spouses. If the social welfare wing of local administration is to be believed, victims moved the state women's commission seeking punishment against
their errant wives.

Majority of these typical cases were, however, referred to police as the commission refused to entertain the men's plight, said an official.

Litigations of male persons harassed and tortured by life partners were in fact brought up for adjudication in SCW camp courts from time to time. Unlike the usual dowry torture cases, majority of these cases
were based on facts and were strikingly genuine, said official
sources.

To cite an instance, Dilip Kumar Kar was one of such victims with his legally married wife constantly ill-treating him. His family life was disturbed, as wife preferred to stay in paternal house along with his
lone son.

In another case, a 42-year-old man from a minority community had alleged that he was driven out from his house by the spouse. At present, the man is living in isolation in a rented house in Golarhat under Derabish block.

To add to this, there have been instances of flagrant abuse of anti-dowry law by greedy women in complicity with parents and guardians.

Last month, a 'dead' woman had become alive, but not before police had arrested her in-laws on charge of dowry-related murder and had put them behind the bar. This shocking episode has brought under sharp
focus the gross abuse of anti-dowry legal provision. Ironically, the spouse and in-laws of the dead-and-now-alive woman have already spent nearly a month in the prison.

A beleaguered police are now on the move to mend the damage done to the accused persons. At the same time, the police are readying to book the woman and her family members for misleading and filing false
complaint.

The parents of Mita Gochayat, native of Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district, had alleged that their daughter was murdered by their son-in-law and other in-laws. Mita had married one Badal Patra of Garadpur area in Kendrapara district.

The native villagers of the complainant had resorted to agitation demanding the arrest of the culprits and had staged road blockade on the busy Cuttack-Kandarpur road. Bulking under public pressure, police
hardly investigated into the murder mystery and arrested the culprits named in the FIR.

Much to the embarrassment of local police, the missing bride knocked at the doors of Patkura police station On Sunday evening. She confessed that murder drama was the creation of her parents. There was
little coherence in her statement as she failed to explain what prompted the parents to frame false case of murder, said police sources.

The woman was later produced before the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate Court at Kendrapara to apprise the court of the cooked up murder case.

A prayer has been made to court for early release of innocent accused persons, said police sources.

A good proportion of dowry prevention and dowry atrocity cases being registered in the police stations across the district is found to be framed-up.

Misuse is mostly pronounced especially with regard to sections 498 (a) and 406 of dowry prevention act, remarked senior police officials.