He was
gang-raped, filmed nude, thrashed with belts, and objects were inserted into
his private parts.
“Then they urinated
on me,” the 19-year-old broke down, narrating his story to a helpline
recently.
Given that Delhi is widely touted as the rape capital, this should have
been just another statistic. But there’s a catch. The caller’s alleged
tormentors were women, and all nearly twice his age.
In spite of
being from an influential political family, the caller had no legal remedy.
Counsellors had a tough time trying to figure out how courts could help him. To
their dismay, they found that the Indian rape laws did not recognise a man as a
victim.
Being an adult, he could not seek help under the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act either.
The 19-year-old isn’t alone. Overcoming the stigma and their social
conditioning, hundreds of men across the country are making that call to the
helpline with trepidation, alleging that they were harassed, abused and
victimised by women.
The 8882-498-498 helpline for men in distress, run by 40 NGOs across
states, claims to have received 37,000 calls since it was launched a year
ago. Even if some of the calls are considered bogus, the number is
staggering - more than 100 each day.
And the calls
to the helpline, SIF (Save Indian Family) One, are leaving counsellors puzzled.
The callers do not seem to have much legal remedy. Counselors say Indian
anti-rape laws do not see a male as a victim of any sex crime.
Ritwik
Bisaria, a counselor with SIF one, said: “We receive cases of men being
implicated in false rape and dowry cases. On an average we receive 110 calls a
day from across the country. About 65-75 per cent of the calls we receive are
from the new callers.”
Most calls are
received from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, according
to the data collated by SIF. They constitute 55-60 per cent of the total calls
made to the helpline.
“Apart
from accusing the man for taking dowry, the charges of fake molestation and
attempt to rape by husband’s family are also added.” The helpline also
receives calls from men who claim to have been sexually assaulted at the
workplace.
Deepika
Bhardwaj, a journalist and film-maker who is currently working on a documentary
on misuse of Section 498 A, said:
“All around us, relationships are breaking
down. While there are several platforms for women, there is little that is
available to men if they are harassed, abused, subjected to violence by their
female partners or office colleagues.
"I get emails and calls from men saying
they do not know who to talk to about such problems. Anyone can be a victim of
violence and harassment, but if a man complains he is either not heard or
laughed at. Suicide rate among men is rising. We need to have helplines for
harassed men.”
Kuldip Babbar,
an advocate in Delhi who runs a small helpline for distressed men who are the
victims of misuse of Section 498A, said: “In the last decade, the number of
calls being made by men across Delhi NCR have increased ten times.”
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