The Aftermath Of Section 498A In Indian Society

Banshita Sahoo, B.A.LLB (H), SOA National Institute of Law, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

B.S Barsa, B.A.LLB (H), SOA National Institute of Law, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

INTRODUCTION

Marriage is a crucial part of our Indian society. It is generally referred to as a sacrament and holds great value. After marriage, both spouses have equal rights throughout the marriage.

However, sometimes, marriage is not as pure as society makes it seem. There are many evils behind the facade of marriage, and one such major issue is cruelty against women. This is not a new notion in our society. Offences against women are present and have been known to humankind since time immemorial. Even after marriage, a woman is not safe as she is mistreated even by her husband and his family members.

So, to deal with this problem, Section 498A was introduced in the Criminal law second amendment of 1983. Even before this section came into force, Section 304B was present in the Indian Penal Code 1860, but it was only restricted to dowry death. In contrast, Section 498A deals with all kinds of cruelty inflicted against a woman by her husband or relatives of the husband and is punishable under this section.

But what is referred to by 'cruelty'? For Section 498A, cruelty is defined as –

(a) any sort of wilful conduct of such a nature as likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or cause any grave injury or danger to life, limb or health of the woman

(b) harassment of a woman where such harassment intends to coerce her or any other person related to her to fulfil any illegal demand of any property or valuable security or is the result of failure by her or any person associated with her to satisfy such demand.