, a documentary filmmaker who advocates for men’s rights, makes a case for gender equality On May 10, a court in Rohtak Haryana , asked the police to register a complaint against a basketball player who has accused several men of rape in order to extort money from them. The judge, while hearing the bail plea of a Kabaddi player accused of rape by the woman, said, “It is established that the complainant is a blackmailer and is habitual of getting false cases of rape registered, extorting money and then withdrawing the case or endorsing no objection.” While reading this judgment, I got to know the name of the accused, but not the alleged rape victim as she enjoys anonymity by law, which says no victim of sexual assault can be named. When the case was filed, the player’s name was splashed in newspapers just like actor Karan Oberoi ’s, who has recently been accused of rape on the strength of alleged promise of marriage by a woman who was in a relationship with him. Scores of men are named and shamed the moment an FIR is registered against them. Forget even an FIR, they are named and shamed even if an anonymous tweet comes up alleging sexual harassment, as we saw happening with so many during the #MeToo movement. It doesn’t matter if there isn’t an iota of truth in the allegations, but the word of a woman is treated as gospel truth by society and the media and the accused man is lynched socially, causing irreparable damage to his social status and life. No one bats an eyelid when a man is called a “rapist, sexual predator, molester” and much worse without anything proven against him, just because a woman accused him.Karan Oberoi has been accused of rape on the strength of alleged promise of marriage by a woman who was in a relationship with himWhile the constitution says that no person should be discriminated against on the basis of gender, caste or religion, our laws are extremely discriminatory against men. While on one hand, men are not even recognised as victims of domestic violence or rape or sexual harassment, on the other hand, if they are falsely accused by a woman, there is hardly any recourse available. I am currently dealing with a case where a man falsely accused of rape was granted `5 lakh as compensation by the Sessions Court in Rohtak because he had to spend eight months in jail for no fault of his. After battling a false accusation for three years, it has been two years that this man has been struggling to get the compensation. Now, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the compensation granted to him because it believes that the judge who passed this order went out of her judicial powers to grant such an amount. This man lost his job, several years, reputation and money, and the High Court thinks the compensation granted to him is undue!I recently spoke to one of the accused in what the media called the “Rohtak double gang-rape case.” The case made headlines a few years ago, with TV anchors shouting at the top of their voice, showing the face of these men and labelling them “rapists,” raising questions about law and order, that the same men could gang-rape the same woman again. All of these men had several pieces of evidence, including CCTV footage clearly showing that none of them were even present in that city during the alleged incident, but it did not matter to anyone. Because of the media trial, three of the accused spent three months behind bars even though the police clearly knew they had been falsely accused. Today, while the second gang-rape complaint filed by the woman has been dismissed by Rohtak Police declaring it false, the first case filed by her has also led to honourable acquittal of the two accused, who were tried for it at the trial court in Bhiwani . But no one in the media has reported on either of the final verdicts. One of the accused men in this case, whom I spoke to, told me that when they were being taken to court after the sensational media trial, the public wanted to lynch them. Everyone was baying for their blood. But now when he has been proven innocent, no one even knows about it. I have met several men who have been falsely accused of rape. The emotional trauma of these men is nothing less than the trauma of real victims of rape or sexual harassment. The humiliation in the media adds to the pain of being wrongly accused, leaving a scar forever. In my documentary, 'Martyrs Of Marriage', on the misuse of Section 498A of the IPC (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), I have discussed several cases of men who have committed suicide because of false accusations. We are now seeing the same happening because of false accusations under Section 376 of the IPC (Punishment for rape).Our story last week on Karan Oberoi’s case prompting Pooja Bedi to call for a #MenToo movement, to help men falsely accused of rape or harassmentA Public Interest Litigation has now been filed in the Supreme Court asking for protection of the identity of the accused in sexual assault cases, just the way the identity of a woman is protected. I personally feel that this must be done. Until and unless a person is proven guilty, his reputation should not be maligned. Also, if a court finds that a woman has falsely accused a man based on concrete evidence beyond any doubt, she should be given the same sentence as a man would get if he actually committed the crime, and her name should also be publicly revealed. This will discourage false accusers to a large extent. The absence of these mechanisms has led to extortion gangs becoming active in all parts of country where the same woman accuses several men of rape or molestation in order to extort money.Gender equality cannot and should not be about rights of women alone. If rapists should be named and shamed, women who file false cases should be named and shamed as well. If men who perpetrate domestic violence, demand dowry, molest or rape women should be called out, female perpetrators of similar crimes should be booked and called out too. If media enthusiastically reports crimes against women by men, it should show the same concern for crimes against men by women. If we constantly talk about maintaining dignity, respect and honour of a woman, we need to think about the dignity, respect and honour of a man too. The silence of society, media and lawmakers towards issues that men face is slowly and steadily fuelling a great amount of unrest. It is also encouraging women to think that they can get away with any lies against a man or harassment of a man. Men are not disposable or collateral damage that should be sacrificed at the altar of the idea of protecting women. They are as human as women. Talking about their rights is as important as that of women. #MenToo is as important as #MeToo.-Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, Gender equality activist