Non-government organisations (NGOs) working on men’s rights get over 10,000 distress calls from male victims of domestic violence, matrimonial disputes and sexual harassment, The Sunday Guardian has said in a report.

“Men are always at the receiving end of all problems. Indian laws discriminate against men whereas Article 15 of the Constitution talks about equality of all citizens. We have been getting calls about various problems from men who are in distress. We even get calls regarding men getting raped by females, men being lured into physical relationships after which they are bullied or blackmailed, harassment of men at the workplace where they are used as toy boys by their seniors.” the portal quoted Ritwik Bisaria, vice president of Men’s Welfare Trust, part of the Save Indian Family (SIF) movement, as saying.

Men’s Rights Association, a Pune-based NGO, has also called for a gender-neutral law in India. Kumran, coordinator for Men’s Rights Association, told that even his organisation receives about 20-30 calls every week from Pune alone from victims who are men and have been “falsely” implicated in cases like dowry, domestic violence and bullying.

“We have seen a rising trend of cases where men are falsely implicated after break-up with their girlfriend in cases of harassment and sometimes even rape and molestation. When the couple was in a relationship, everything was consensual, but right after the break-up, men become the victim of bullying. We cannot have such laws where men can easily become the target,” the portal quoted Kumran as saying.

Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code was being abused by women who are wilfully filing false cases against their spouses.

Interestingly, as per National Crime Records Bureau data for 2016, the total number of 498A cases registered in India stood at 1,10,378, and the conviction was reported only in 5,433 cases.