We must look into why people misuse the provisions of Sec 498A of the IPC.
• Legal Extortion – Get-rich-quick-scheme to extort large amounts of money
• Prior Relationship – Wife has a prior relationship, and cannot get out of it. She marries to satisfy her parents, and then misuses the 498a law in order to obtain a divorce.
• Adultery – Women who indulge in adultery use 498a as a bargaining tool
• Domination – Wife wants the husband to abandon his parents and siblings, and have total control over his finances and social behaviour
• Custody - Deny the father and his family access to their child(ren).
• Fraudulent Marriages - in which the bride (and her family) hides her education level or mental health; and when is justifiably asked to release the person who has gone into marriage without knowing the full facts; she files a false 498a case.
The kind of women who are likely to file false 498A cases have certain typical traits :
• Who is suffering from pre-existing mental problems such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, etc.,
• Whose family is nouveau riche and likes ostentatious display of wealth, possessions as well as social and political connections
• Who is used to living beyond her means
• Whose father is hen-pecked and whose mother dominates all family situations
• Who listens to and acts in accordance with her parents’ wishes at all times, exhibiting a lack of individuality and discretion in dealing with her married life
• Who pushes for quick involvement during the establishment of a marriage alliance, pressing the man and his family for an instantaneous commitment
• Who is excessively possessive and suspicious
• Who is self-centred and feels the need to dominate the relationship and every aspect of decision making
• Who tries to alienate her husband from his family and friends
• Who is hypersensitive and therefore easily insulted
• Who indulges in verbal abuse and constant criticism of her husband and in-laws
• Who uses blackmail (emotional or otherwise) and threats to get her unreasonable demands fulfilled by her husband and in-laws
• Who walks out on her husband following an argument and stays away from her husband indefinitely without any effort towards reconciliation