1 Married Man Ends Life Every 9 Minutes in India!

New Delhi: Every nine minutes a married man commits suicide in India due to alleged misuse of section 498a of IPC against them, taking the toll to around a whopping 64,000 every year, says a report.

"National Crime Records Bureau statistics reveal more incidences of suicide by married men than by married women. In 2012, approximately 64,000 married men committed suicide vis-a-vis 32,000 married women," says D S Rao, president of Hridaya-Nest of Family Harmony, an NGO, quoting a survey by it.

As per Section 498a the husband of a woman or his relative who subjects her to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

Rao said the misuse of 498a also leads to suffering of old parents as well as the family members and relatives of the men against whom the complaints have been lodged.

"The law is not serving its purpose and is instead being used by a section of the people to vent their anger and extort married men and their families," claimed Amit Gupta, an official of the NGO.

In West Bengal the number of cases under the section has grown exponentially at the rate of 11 percent in the last two years but the conviction rate has dropped to just 4.4 per cent from 6.3 percent earlier, as per the survey.

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