Indian tradition encourages men to believe they are gods, deserving of female worship no matter what their shortcomings. An unemployed laborer like Pande's husband who can barely feed his family will rule over his wife like a feudal lord. Even the police, imbued with conservative ideas about a man's superiority, used to react with hostility to women complaining of violence. That is why the new law allows women to appeal to judges directly rather than just going to the police.
Some men have protested that the law will be misused. Lawyers have documented cases of wives abusing India's anti-dowry laws to have innocent husbands thrown into jail when a marriage sours. The Save Indian Family Foundation, a men's rights group, says its helpline has been flooded with calls from distraught men whose wives, having hoisted a sword of Damocles above their heads, are blackmailing them.
Mahesh Tiwari, a lawyer with the Foundation, describes the new domestic violence law as hell for husbands.
"Without any investigation or evidence, a man can be thrown into jail and lose his house. Is this a democracy or Nazi Germany? Men have rights too," he says.
But women's groups and lawyers such as Rani Jethmalani say that non-violent husbands have nothing to fear from the law.
"It aims to protect women, not punish men who are innocent," Jethmalani said.
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