When laws are misused

With an objective to showcase how women, sometimes, misuse the Section 498A of the Anti-Dowry Law, a documentary film ‘Martyrs of Marriage’ was screened at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan on Sunday.

The documentary is helmed by Gurgaon-based Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj, who is an independent scribe and a documentary filmmaker.

In Section 498A, a husband and his family members are arrested instantly if his wife files a complaint.

Once the complaint is lodged by a woman then the husband and his family have no chance of getting bail until the final hearing of the case.

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Gurgaon-based documentary filmmaker Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj screened ‘Martyrs of Marriage’ in the city, which focuses on the gross misuse of the Section 498A of the Anti-Dowry Law

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This law has been under controversy due to its increasing misuse by women in the recent times.

The film showcased that between 1998 and 2014 more than 25 lakh people have been arrested under this law, higher than any other crime under IPC except theft and riots.

It also explains that a total of 14,26,933 persons booked under this section in which 11,50,293 were not found guilty of the alleged crime by the court.

Many family members, who faced problems with this law, shared their views in the film. The 90-minute film clearly depicts how men and their family members face serious problems with the law.

“When I personally saw the misuse of this law, I decided to make a film on it and I started ‘Martyrs Marriage’. The film is explains about what, why and how the Section 498A is misused.

I hope this film will make people realise about the exploitation of this law and initiate a serious discussion around false cases, how they destroy lives and how no State should remain silent to harassment of people who are harassed with the help of the system.

In my opinion, justice should not be gender biased. All the data used in the film are statistics of National Bureau of Crime Records,” said Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj.