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IN Indian families, mothers-in-law are usually described as shrewish and the source of all domestic conflict. However, reality and popular perception are often poles apart as many mothers-in-law maintain that they are hounded by their daughters-in-law. Highlighting their plight, some of these women have come together under the banner of the All India Mothers-in-law Protection Forum. The forum was created in Bangalore and very soon it had branches in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Nagpur, Lucknow, Chhattisgarh and Guwahati with more than 1,000 members.
Forum members cite cases to prove their point. Anita (Names have been changed to protect identities), a retired teacher in her sixties, and her 70-year-old husband claim that life has been "hell" for them since their former daughter-in-law lodged a complaint with the police alleging that her in-laws had demanded dowry a day before the marriage. A tearful Anita says educated women are abusing the law when marriages turn sour and foisting false cases on their in-laws. Vani agrees wholeheartedly with Anita. Her daughter-in-law has implicated her and her family in a dowry case after 16 years of marriage and two children. She filed for divorce and lodged an FIR against Vani, her husband and son three days before mediation proceedings were to begin as ordered by the court authorities. The children live separately with their mother and their minds are being poisoned against their grandparents and father, claims Vani, who fears for the wellbeing of her grandchildren. According to statistics reeled off by forum members, 1,23,000 women have been arrested under Section 498-A IPC (dowry law) without trial or investigation between 2004 and 2007. According to this Section, "whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine." Most of the cases allegedly turned out to be false. Forum members now want
the negative typecasts to end. They want to put an end to the misuse
of Section 498-A and the Domestic Violence Act and ensure that people
who file false cases are punished. The forum also wants the judiciary,
National Commission for Women and women’s bodies to pay heed to
complaints filed by mothers-in-law.
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Neena
Dhulia, coordinator of the forum, says the laws of the country are
loaded in favour of daughters-in-law. The complaints of women who have
been harassed by their daughters-in-law are not taken seriously by the
police or courts. Forum members held a candlelight protest in
Bangalore recently to create awareness about the plight of hapless
mothers-in-law.