Hi All,
I am a law student and am currently trying to understand how to work this case out. According to IPC S 497 - Whoever has s*xual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such s*xual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either descripttion for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.
We all know this. However, I have come across the most unfortunate case. Here's how it goes.
The wife has been committing adultery from the time of marriage, with on and off apologizing and getting back to the husband, during the course of time when things got better between the couple, she conceived and they had a son. Post the birth of the son, again the wife left the two week old child and the husband and went away to live with her boyfriend. She did not show up until the child was 5 years old.
She told the husband that she is willing to give him a divorce as she doesnt want to stay married nor does she want the child, but only at the cost of him giving her a two BHK flat, a car worth 5 lacs and a montly alimony of 10000k. The husband under pressure and the fear of losing the child and while in an inebirated state signed the document back in 2000.
In 2007 she started coming to visit the child occassionally. but all the costs of the child were being looked after by the father and his parents. He eventually stopped paying her any money and was also not able to afford the house and car.
She is now demanding that she should get the house car and the entire custody of the childe with no visitation rights whatsoever to the father or the grandparents. she has forcibly taken away the child and told the father that unless he pays her the money and gives her the assets the child will not be allowed to meet him.
Now my question here is as follows?
The woman left the house at her own will. Noone asked her to leave. So why does she need to be given any maintanance?
The husband is willing to pay the expenses of the child as he is the father but she is demanding that her own expenses also be met! Is that fair?
the court asks for evidence of her being adulterous? I would like to know does any conniving woman in thr right frame of mind allow you to take photographs of her with another man which can be produced in court as evidence against her?
It is really sad that our Indian Judiciary makes laws to only protect women and theor rights. What about a man in situations like there? it is high time, we understood that women are not as weak and underprivileged as we make them out to be. I
I am a woman too, however, this kind of a law is completely unacceptable. How is it fair that a woman commits adultery to a point where she leaves her weeks old son and husband and then demands that she paid maintainance?
I have consulted various lawyers over this and they all have only one thing to say that the law is not in favour of a man and hence special laws are made to protect women?
Are we not in fact creating monsters in women by framing laws like these?
Shona Parelkar