Harassment complaints by men on the rise in Pune

While the city police working in the Womenrsquos Grievance Redressal Cell WGRC usually get cases of daughtersinlaw approaching them alleging torture and harassment for dowry by inlaws in the last couple of years the cell has been witnessing an increase in the number of men approaching them as well complaining of harassment by their wivesMenrsquos Right Association is set to organise an event for menrsquos rights today to mark International Menrsquos Day file pic for representationAccording to the statistics provided by the WGRC in 2013 out of the 600 cases that the cell received around 15 per cent were filed by men This year the number has already reached around 700 till October out of which 200 cases were filed by men against their wivesldquoWith time the nature of violence has changed and in the last 10 months out of the total complaints received by the cell around 30 per cent of them were from menrdquo said said Inspector Pratibha Joshi incharge of WGR cell She added ldquoThey file applications claiming their wife is harassing and torturing themIn most of these cases the women are suspicious of their husbandrsquos activities especially if he is found chatting on social networking sites or by checking their call records The husband fears that she may file a false case of domestic violence against him and so they approach us for counsellingrdquoAccording to PI Joshi the couples believe that a third person counselling them will help bridge the communication gap rather than them approaching the court or a private marriage counsellor Menrsquos Rights Association MRA which has been fighting for the rights of men and against the misuse of domestic violence law is planning to organise an event today to mark International Menrsquos Day demanding equal norms for both men and womenPune president of MRA Mahesh Shinde said ldquoAccording to the 2013 data of National Crime Records Bureau Maharashtra reported the highest number of suicidal deaths in the country We ranked second in 2012 and 2011 Most of the cases were of men who decided to commit suicide due to divorce 35 per cent family problems 24 per cent and cancellation or nonsettlement of marriage 335 per centWhile we understand that there are genuine cases of violence against women nowadays women also tend to misuse domestic violence law against men This is not only our observation but has also been noticed in the latest judgements of apex and high court rulings Innocent men and their parents are put behind bars for 20 days for no reason When we say lsquowe are all equal before lawrsquo then why is there gender discrimination between us and womenrdquoSuyog Deshmukh secretary of MRA added ldquoThere is not only misuse of domestic violence but also sexual harassment laws at work Government organisations are all working for womenrsquos upliftment but are doing nothing for men We have a sexual harassment helpline and we receive 30 calls every weekrdquo