'Tortured' husbands approach police for protection

Role reversal

Unable to withstand alleged “torture” by their wives, about a dozen men in Uttar Pradesh’s Basti district, about 200 km from here, have approached the police seeking some protection.

These men did not care if it would make them a laughing stock in the “male-dominated” Indian society. They just could not bear it any more.

According to official records as many as eight complaints pertaining to alleged torture at the hands of wives were registered by the police at different police stations in the district in January and February this year.

In many cases, the aggrieved men approached the “Mahila” (women) police stations seeking action against their wives citing acts of torture, the records point out.

Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Sarena village in the district, who has lodged such a complaint with the police, said his wife had been “torturing” him for the past several years.

“I did not have the courage to narrate my plight to any one as the people will laugh at me, but I had no option,”  Kumar, who has sought police protection, claimed.

Sirajuddin, a resident of Beragal village, was reportedly thrashed and made to flee, when he reached the house of his in-laws to request his wife to come back home. He has also approached the police with a complaint.

“Many such cases are under investigation,” police officials say though they also express their helplessness to do anything in this regard except attempt to resolve the matter through compromise as it is difficult to prove the charges.

A few months ago, some similar “aggrieved and tortured husbands” had staged a “dharna” (sit-in) in the state capital demanding enactment of a law similar to what is available to the women to protect the men.

It won’t be a wonder if the government does consider their demand given the pace of “women empowerment.”