INTRODUCTION
India is a democratic country governed by various rules and laws. Some of the laws that are still prevalent in India are made by the British government. One such law is IPC (Indian Penal Code,1860). Although from time to time, various amendments have been made in it. The IPC have twenty-three chapters comprising of 511 sections. The amendments brought in the punishment of the offences indicates its nature, seriousness. Moreover, the legislative perception. When presented, IPC seems to be crucial and immanently gender-neutral. However, things are not always the same as it appears. The same problem lies with Indian Penal Code,1860. Certain provisions of this law highlights ‘gender inequality’. There exists a gender gap in the laws that are made for the protection of Indian women. The author through this article would like to focus on the laws that punishes only males and does not offer any rights if transgression is committed against them.
ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE,1860
The Indian Penal Code is the criminal code prevalent in India. It enlists all the crimes, their punishment against which the culprit can be prosecuted. It is applicable on all the citizens of India. As stated in the section 2 of The Indian Penal Code[1], the law does not discriminate between offenders and anyone who commits a crime will be punished according to this law. However, the assumption that “all violence comes from men” not only creates gender disparities in society, but also acts as a defence against women’s crimes.
“Crime has no gender and neither does our law.”
SECTIONS WHICH FAVOUR ONLY WOMEN IN IPC:
- Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code
- Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code
- Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code
- Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (Rape)
Crimes such as rape and murder have no consideration for age, class, racism, nationality, or even gender or sexual orientation. Rape occurs at any age, gender or any place.
CERTAIN OTHER ASPECTS
When a man engages in consensual sex with a woman, there are absolutely no means to establish a woman’s will. However, a woman may have consensual sex and still continue to accuse the man of rape. After promising marriage and then having sex, man cannot break up with a woman. Under Indian law he is a ‘rapist’ if he does. When the same is done by a woman, she is protected by the aegis of “women’s empowerment”. There is no age of consent for men. If a teenager boy and a girl have consensual sex, the boy will be charged with rape.
FAKE CASES FILED AGAINST MEN
Allegations and false cases against men have unwaveringly risen in past few years. According to latest NCRB report, more than 1,25,657 men were acquitted from these gender-biased laws.
Instances of real cases where man were falsely accused –
A 19-year-old girl in Indore accused 5 men for kidnapping, gang-raping and stabbing her. However, as soon as the investigation began, it was found that no evidences were there to support the claims of teenager as they were false and fabricated.
2) Lalitpur Vishnu Tiwari Case 2000
Vishnu Tiwari was sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2000 at the age of 23.
16 years later, Allahabad Court found him innocent of all charges and acquitted him. It came into light that the family had a squabble over land with Vishnu and framed him under the Harijan act only to be able to get money
But the man had already lost precious 20 years of his life, having served a sentence he never deserved.
3) Minor Daughter Accused Father of Rape 2017
The accused man spent three years in jail for a crime he never committed and it was the during the trial that the story made up by his daughter started to fall apart. The daughter soon accepted that she trumped up a false case under the influence of her maternal uncle.
A woman accused two men of raping her in the cloak of giving her a job. Upon investigation, it was found that both men were not present in the city on the day she claimed to be raped. It was found that she filed a fake case to destroy the image of two men. Moreover, fake cases registered under the #MeToo movement acted as adding fuel to the fire.
CONCLUSION
After the terrifying Nirbhaya Case that shook the entire Nation, Indian laws relation to women were amended and became stricter. The laws were buttressed to address the menace of sexual harassment that had become the threat to the lives of innocent women. The fact cannot be ignored that it also arose a threat to the lives of innocent who are accused of false charges. Delhi High Court expressed its worry over “alarming increase” of false rape cases. False imputations have the power to destroy the career and the life of the accused. The accused trapped in false cases loses dignity, cannot face family and friends and is stigmatised for life. It is difficult to prevent such fatuous litigations unless the wrongdoers do not suffer the consequences of their actions.
Accept the fact that men are also confronted with crimes and that women are not always the only victims! This state of mind must be developed. The education being provided to the next generation should be based on equality rather than on difference. We must recognize that crime is genderless and anyone who commits it must be discouraged. Justice does not consist in neutrality between good and evil, but in finding well and opposing it to evil wherever it is.
Author’s Name: Sanskriti Srivastava (ICFAI University, Dehradun)
References:
[1] Punishment of offences committed within India.—Every person shall be liable to punishment under this Code and not otherwise for every act or omission contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within 3 [India]
