Martyrs of Marriage: Film on anti-dowry law now on Netflix
Martyrs of Marriage, a 2016 documentary film by Deepika Bhardwaj, that explores the evils of India's anti-dowry law - IPC Section 498A - is now streaming on Netflix. In a country known for its deep-rooted misogyny, patriarchy and violence against women, the film presents the rarely-discussed other side - how in trying to protect women, Section 498A is actually victimizing men and their families.
What is Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code?
Introduced in 1983, it makes dowry harassment a cognizable and non-bailable offense, giving married women the right to get their husbands and/or in-laws instantly arrested, without interrogation or trial. However, more than providing justice to distressed women, the law, over the years has been slammed for being draconian, often used by disgruntled wives to settle score with innocent husbands.
Supreme Court calls exploitation of Section 498A 'legal terrorism'
Considering the rampant misuse of Section 498A, the Supreme Court called it "legal terrorism" in 2005 and warned that it was "intended to be used as a shield and not as an assassin's weapon". According to National Crime Records Bureau, of the 118,866 cases filed under Section 498A in 2013, 10,864 were false. Similarly, of 106,527 cases in 2012, 10,235 were not genuine.
Saving or endangering lives?
According to the BBC, between 1998 and 2015, 2.7 million people - including 650,000 women and 7,700 children, were arrested under the anti-dowry provision.
Men can be victims too
Bhardwaj, a 32-year-old journalist-filmmaker, started researching on the film in 2012 after she and her family members were falsely accused of harassing/beating her cousin's wife. The documentary, which took four years to make, narrates powerful first-person accounts of men victimized under the anti-dowry law. In detailing the problem, its reasons and the aftermath, the movie aims to persuade the government to amend the law.
