BHOPAL:

Santoshkumar B Potdar

is a man on a mission. The

social activist

from Belgaum district of Karnataka has embarked on the longest walkathon to uphold the cause of men, who suffer due to misuse of IPC Section 498A by women. He was in the capital on Sunday.

Potdar began his padyatra on January 30 and plans to reach New Delhi after walking 2,500km on May 3. He reached Indore a day earlier and plans to move ahead via Ratlam and Jaipur.

Potdar was felicitated by members of

Bhopal Against Injustice

(BHAI), an affiliate of national NGO Save Indian Family (SIF). BHAI is a group of harassed husbands, who are facing the brunt of misuse of DV Act and 498A (dowry law).

Potdar told TOI, he will cover the 2,500km distance by walk to impress upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee to implement amendments to prevent the misuse of IPC 498A by women. The section that deals with crime against women by husband or his relatives and sentences them to jail has been misused by women often, who level false charges.

Quoting statistics of 2010 available with the

National Crime Records Bureau

, he said a harassed husband commits suicide every nine minutes in India.

He wants IPC Section 498A to be made gender neutral by replacing the word 'wife' with 'spouse' so that the law benefits both genders. In addition, he also wants the government to set up a national commission for men and a separate ministry for the welfare of men.