EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW THE BASICS OF LAW

Shiela Binoy

SECTION ‘498 A’ AND MY PhD
My PhD was an experience in itself, a living character, a woman herself and her story line was the central theme of my thesis. ‘Section 498 A’ was the culprit. The girl from Chhattisgarh lost her kids and family, because she succumbed to the pressure imposed from her neighbours to file a report against her husband and in-laws. This resulted in police arrest and jail to her immediate relatives from her husband’s side. Succumbing to the twist in the tale, her younger sister in law killed herself, leading to an aftermath, where she was left homeless. The young woman had come under the prejudice of giving herself justice by taking a bifurcated road; landing her in a no mans land. With no support from anywhere, this woman forced me to think on the subject in depth. Section ‘498 A’ is a mammoth beast of which most of the women are unaware off. There is no compromise in this law neither is there a gharwaapasi for the women who has this section imposed on her wedded husband and his family. The dowry act has been misused a lot. There are victims but the real ones wait long years for justice .Settlements takes decades. Dowry is in most cases the result of conflict. Dowry is given when asked and willingly also by the brides family most of the times. But the conflicts triggered in its name have given it a brand name ultimately. Here families, lives and reputations get dragged to court for years but interestingly the conviction rate is just 3%.

RELY ON THE INDIAN POSTAL SERVICE, NEED NOT TO TRAVEL
We are hearing into cases from maintenance to custody. My advice to women is to abstain from going to courts directly, I heed them to contact the CWC, we keep the power of the court, and evidence is purely a judgmental factor for us. The administration, especially the SP Office of every district in Chhattisgarh works hand in hand with us. A month has the CWC solving 25 -30 cases minimum. The judicial procedures are kept open and Suo Moto cognizance is also taken wherever applicable. Women get stuck in maintenance cases for years, we go fast track and have settled cases in a few good hearings.A total of 1100 cases have been resolved in the last 51 public hearings.

CWC IS NO MORE A ‘DAANT VEEHEIN SHER’
It’s a myth gone true; Chhattisgarh’s CWC was the only state in India where virtual hearing was done. Cases came pouring on and we worked on them. Burning the midnight oil had a soothing effect on the lives of many. We have shown pure honesty accompanied with aggression to solve thousands of cases and 400 of them have been disposed with acumen. The ‘Nagarnar NMDC land acquisition case’ was a historic one for the CWC. “We had to beat political influences, media pressure and patriarchal dominance to stand for the rights of 71 girls who rightly were seeking employment in the plant against land acquired. A standing committee was formed, and petitions were reopened, judgment was universal but the verdict was topographical”. “It took a set of hearings to solve the case, but grass root level dispositions need a lot of emotional strength” says Naik, who intervenes in telling that usually in such cases the family of the petitioners themselves stand against them, making it tough to pass the verdict.

MEDIA NEEDS TO REPORT WITH PRUDENCE
Aftermath the Nirbhaya case, several such cases has been reported all over the country. Here the media took extra length in showcasing the barbarism inflicted on the victim, which gave an insight to brutality to many criminal minds. A certain section of the media also tries to opine while doing direct reporting, there is a major amendment needed here. One who goes through or the victim is the owner of the opinion not every one who hears the song playing. The media is advised not to give sectional and sensational coverage’s a detailed script, readers are of many types, the normal, and sectional too.