The Delhi High Court has ruled that men too are entitled to protection from violence and cruelty in marriage, just like women. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made this observation while rejecting the anticipatory bail plea of a woman accused of pouring boiling water mixed with chilli powder on her husband.
The Court noted that the belief that only women suffer physical or mental cruelty in marriage is not always true. Men too can be victims and deserve the same legal safeguards.
The accused woman had sought leniency on the ground of being female. However, the Court termed this a gender-biased argument, stressing that justice must remain free from such biases.
“Just as women deserve protection from cruelty and violence, men too are entitled to the same safeguards under law. To suggest otherwise would violate equality and human dignity,” the Court observed.
It further held that creating a special category of leniency for women would go against the basic principles of fairness. Crimes that cause life-threatening injuries must be dealt with strictly, whether committed by a man or a woman.
In this case, the husband had earlier complained to police that his wife had married him under threat of a false rape case and had a history of filing cases against previous husbands. On January 1, she allegedly poured boiling water on him while he was asleep, locked him in the room with their three-month-old daughter, and fled with his phone.
Rejecting her claim that she acted due to harassment, the Court said there was no explanation for the serious injuries caused or for fleeing with his phone. It stressed that if the roles were reversed, no mercy would have been shown to the husband.
The Court concluded that the accused did not cooperate with the investigation and that her actions showed cruelty not only towards her husband but also towards their child. Therefore, no ground for anticipatory bail was found.
Be a part our social media community:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndianMan.in?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/indianman.in?igsh=MWZ2N3N0ZmpwM3l3cw==
