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Monday 22 July 2013

Divorce cases double in AP




A woman activist who fights for men’s rights!

 A woman activist who fights for men’s rights!

She is an activist with a difference.
Dr Indu Subhash of Lucknow took Bareilly by storm on Sunday as she rooted for the rights of men in the country and advocated formation of a National Men’s Commission.
Her fight against “gender-biased laws” drew massive response from the people here, including women, who volunteered to take up the cause at their level.
“All laws are gender-biased and spoiling the lives of men. There are a number of men who commit suicide as laws, which should ideally be building families, are becoming the reason for their breakdown,” said Subhash, a Ph D in women’s studies, addressing a gathering held at Novelty Crossing.
“All laws are meant for protection of women, who are misusing them to harass men. For example, in the case of separation due to ‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage’, women are entitled to get half the share in her husband’s parental property. Is this right?” she asked.
Similar is the story with anti-rape law that, according to Subhash, gives immense power to women to misuse it like the domestic violence and dowry act. “And police are acting as a major tool in the misuse of the law,” she added.
Subhash urged the youths here to fight against the introduction of this bill, which is in the process of becoming a law.
Subhash, currently serving as a principal in a college in Sultanpur, started her fight in 2007 when her brother became a victim of one such law.
“My sister-in-law lost her mental stability after the death of her son and committed suicide. But, my brotherin-laws blamed our family for the murder and lodged an FIR under the dowry act. My whole family was tortured and put behind bars for nothing,” recalled Subhash.

The forgotten women: MiLs take on DiLs

The forgotten women: MiLs take on DiLs

She does not seem to like Ekta Kapoor. And she is fighting a tough and rare battle which many people frown upon. She is that part of the society which has been branded as the ‘accepted vamps’. She is Neena Dhulia, a mother, but unfortunately, she is also a mother-in-law. Today, she is in a convoluted battle for the deserved rights of the ‘forgotten women of India’ - the mother-in-laws (MiL).
Up against a society which has often termed MiLs as the demon and daughter-in-law (DiL) as the sati savitri, the laconic Neena has support from over 3000 other MiLs who have been harassed by their DiLs. Having founded the All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum (AIMPF) in 2009 in Bangalore, she is on a dragooned mission, expressing her remorse, hoping that it will explode silently and effectually redound in the society.
“From seven members, today we have around 3000 members and all are mother-in-laws harassed by daughter-in-laws. We used to visit the The Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) which is a men’s rights organisation, every Sunday at Cubbon Park. It was here that mothers of harassed husbands started meeting and then one fine day, we decided to have a forum for ourselves so that our grievances are also heard,” said the 60-year-old Neena.
Fighting for justice, and more so, fighting to clear her name as the plotting and villainous MiL, she also has the strong support of her son, Virag who is an active member of the SIFF. Her trouble began when he married. Within two months, his wife left home because she did not want to stay with his parents. Thus, began the journey of the percipient mother and son to fight for justice, a fight for which they have been innocently pushed towards.
And the anger that has been building within her is evident when she speaks. “Today there are 15 laws for daughter-in-laws but none for mother-in-laws or sister-in-laws. These 15 laws are being grossly misused. We contacted the National Commission for Women and have written numerous letters, but they have vehemently refused to address our problems. We are not in their mandate,” said Neena.
According to her, the society, the print and electronic media have constantly been portraying mother-in-laws as monsters and vamps. “All the years, we care for our child and as soon as marriage happens, we become the demon. No mother would want to ruin her son’s life. It is false propaganda which is breaking up families. Today it is so easy for a daughter-in-law to go to a police station and file a complaint. It is like ordering a pizza. In many cases, it is just extortion,” she states.
Neena lambasts the government because she says that while today, the government has made laws like the 498 A and the Domestic Violence Act wherein a daughter-in-law can file a complaint but not a mother-in-law.
But her fight is long and she is hopeful. “I am sure the change will happen. Today, at least the mindset has changed. Earlier people were not even accepting that false cases were being registered,” she adds.
 
 
http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/article1508482.ece 

'Dead' wife calls, says she was with lover in Coimbatore hotel

'Dead' wife calls, says she was with lover in Coimbatore hotel

CHENNAI: This was no call from the afterworld. But 28-year-old Ganga Devi will have a lot of explaining to do when she returns home.

The homemaker, who went missing from the city on July 13 and was believed to be dead, after the Kaveripakkam police in Vellore district found a highly decomposed body of a woman dumped in a sack last Wednesday, called relatives on Saturday night to inform them that she was alive.

The missing woman's husband Saravanan, a software engineer from Thiruvanmiyur, and his family misidentified the victim as his wife, Ganga Devi, who went missing on July 13.

Ganga Devi was with her lover in a hotel in Coimbatore when she read reports that she had been murdered. Her family was making arrangements to claim the body from the police.

Police said Saravanan was not convinced that the woman in the sack was his wife but concluded that it could be her after relatives said she appeared to look like Ganga Devi. The woman in the sack was naked and was wearing only a chain with a pendant and a wristband when police found the body.

"The body was too decomposed to make a conclusive identification and we decided to run DNA tests to determine if she really was Saravanan's wife," said an investigating officer.

Police said Ganga Devi telephoned her brother Sugumaran to inform him that she was alive. She said she was afraid to return home because her family knew that she had been with her lover Karthik, a neighbour of Ganga Devi's parents in Tirunindravur. "Since the family members were demanding her body, she decided to inform them that she was alive," the officer said.

'Missing' woman to arrive in city today

After reports that Ganga Devi was dead, her return has surprised many. "The woman and her lover ran out of money in Coimbatore," he said. "Ganga Devi said she would return with money that Karthik earned doing odd jobs during their five-day stay in Coimbatore."

She was to board a train from Coimbatore on Sunday and arrive in the city on Monday. The Kaveripakkam police will now have to go back to their case files and restart the probe to identify the woman who was killed and assumed to be Ganga Devi.

Talking about the probe after the woman's body was found, an investigating officer said that Saravanan was not convinced that the woman in the sack was his wife. But he concluded that it could be Ganga Devi after relatives said she appeared to look like her.

The body was highly decomposed and police could not identify the victim, Kaveripakkam inspector M Somasundaram said. "She appeared to have been killed at least four days before her body was discovered," he said. "Her body was swollen. We could find no trace of external injuries. "
 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Dead-wife-calls-says-she-was-with-lover-in-Coimbatore-hotel/articleshow/21231973.cms 

2 Harrased Husbands, Mens Rights, Save Indian Family Foundation