Because I am a Boy …

It is a strange topic relevant to the strange times we live in. It is said that boys are well cared for but that may be a myth. Since birth, as compared to their fairer counterparts, they are treated with an iron hand in the garb of making men out of them. In school, if found to be part of any mischief, the corporal punishment meted to them is way higher than their counterparts. Remember during school, it was only the boys who were made ‘murgas’ or ‘duck walks’ as part of punishment as opposed to the punishment of ‘standing in a corner’ for their fairer counterparts.

National Crime Records Bureau – Suicide Stats – 2012 (Part 2)

This is the part 2 of the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB’s) suicide statistics. The part 1 of the statistics are here. In this part we will try to explore if any causal effects are there to a rise in the male suicides.

In discussion with a few male rights activists, false criminal cases and gender biased laws were cited as a probable reason for despair in men. In this article we will analyze if the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 commonly referred to as the Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) has a causal relationship in increasing in suicides among men.

The DV Act was brought in force by the government on October 26, 2006 and it provides for protection of women from domestic violence in a marital home. This act also provides certain rights to women such as right to matrimonial home, right to receive protection orders and right to maintenance to name a few.

National Crime Records Bureau – Suicide Stats – 2012 (Part 1)

The 2012 data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) suicide statistics has been released, report titled: Accidental Death and Suicides in India – 2012. The data shows the plight of men in this country. Of the total 1,35,445 suicides around 88,453 were men and 46,992 were women. Suicides by men were 1.9 times more than suicides by women. Suicides by farmers are 11.4% of the total suicides[i] and 1.4% of the total suicides were due to poverty[ii].

National Crime Records Bureau – 2012 Crime in India Analysis

The latest report on Crime in India – 2012 has been released by National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB). On a quick analysis we see that around 74% of all violent crimes are against the male gender. Men are 2.7 times more likely to be murdered and 4.4 times more likely to be seriously harmed than women in India.

Crime[i]	Men	Women
Murder (#)	25665	9457
%	73%	27%
Harm Not amounting to murder  (IPC 304/308) (#)	3362	761
%	82%	18%

IPC has certain special provisions for crimes against women. These being Rape (376), Dowry Death (304B), Cruelty (498A), Outraging Modesty (354) and Insult (509). As a percentage of incidents that were reported in 2012, roughly 48% of the complaints could be said to be frivolous (as the accused was acquitted by the Court or the complaints were found to be false at the investigation stage). This is a staggering number as such high number of frivolous complaints being registered and going into trial speaks volumes on the roots of misandry in our society.

Crime Against women[ii]	Incidences (#)	False Charges		Acquitted		Charged
		(#)	%[iii]	(#)	%[iv]	(#)	%[v]
Rapes	24,923	1,833	7.4%	11,154	48.3%	3,563	15.4%
Dowry Deaths	8,233	545	6.6%	3,532	45.9%	1,684	21.9%
Sec. 498A	1,06,527	10,235	9.6%	39,138	40.6%	6,916	7.2%
Sec. 354 (Outraging Modesty)	45,351	2,618	5.8%	19,237	45.0%	6,082	14.2%
Sec. 509 (insult)	9,173	339	3.7%	4,390	49.7%	2,566	29.0%

If one analyzes the data above a whooping 55.7% of rape charges were frivolous. This is a very serious concern as the identity of the above 55.7% rape victims were protected who filed frivolous complaints and the accused identity was made public. One accusation from a woman makes the man a criminal, one accusation destroys his career and one accusation drains out his savings on legal recourses for defending himself. The woman gets a public prosecutor (ie. an attorney appointed by the state to fight the case on her behalf). There is no accountability whatsoever for filing a frivolous complaint by the woman primarily because of –

• Her identity being protected, therefore filing a frivolous complaint has no public backlash. Whereas the accused’s life is destroyed due to her frivolous complaint.
• As a public prosecutor is provided to the woman, there is no financial drain on her resources.
• There are hardly any consequences in Indian law for filing a false rape case. (though a perjury case may be filed)

In all the other cases like Dowry Death, 498A, 354, 509, more than 50% of the cases were found to be frivolous. In 498A complaints, which is a non-bailable offence, the family of the husband is arrested once the complaint is registered. If a staggering 50% of such cases are seen to be frivolous, then the need of the hour is to scrap the provision based on Blackstone’s formulation, which states that “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”. In the above case more than 50% of the accused are innocent which causes undue hardship to them.

These frivolous cases are also a drain on the precious public resources and goes into the taxpayer’s account. The invaluable time of the Courts is wasted in disposing off these frivolous complaints. In the recent past, there has been a lot of hue and cry in the media stating that the cities of India are unsafe for women. An analysis of the rape cases show that in 98.2% cases[vi], the accused was known to the victim. Based on this data it is incorrect to state that Indian Streets are unsafe for women. This is yet another feminist and media hokum created to instill fear in the masses for reasons best known to them. Further, as compared to the developed countries like US, UK and Sweeden which have about 29, 29, and 64 rapes per 100,000 population, India is at about 2 (ie. atleast 15 times safer than developed nations).

The NCRB data is an eye opener and certain actions are a need of the hour such as strong provisions for filing frivolous complaints, detailed investigation of offences and scrapping 498A. Further, there is a need to save the precious court resources which are now used in disposing off these frivolous complaints.

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[i] Table 3.3 and 3.4 of Crimes in India 2012, NCRB.

[ii] Table 5.2, 4.1 and 4.9 of Crimes in India 2012, NCRB.

[iii] As a percentage of incidences in 2012

[iv] As a percentage of (incidences in 2012 less false charges)

[v] As a percentage of (incidences in 2012 less false charges)

[vi] Table 5.2 and 5.4 of Crimes in India 2012, NCRB.

‘Frivolous’ implies either false charges found during investigation or acquittal of the accused by the Court.

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