HYDERABAD: The Delhi gang-rape and murder of 23-year-old Nirbhaya underscored the plight of women in India but the city on Saturday witnessed a demonstration where distraught men protested saying they are being victimised by the fairer sex.

Demanding gender neutral laws, they sought amendment of Section 498 A (punishment of subjecting a married woman to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code, dowry and child custody rights laws besides abolishing maintenance liability on husbands.

Dozens of men from diverse age groups representing the NGO, Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) claimed Section 498 A was enacted to make it easier for the wife to seek redress from potential harassment by the husband's family, but is increasingly being misused by women and their families.

Protesters, mostly software professionals shouting "No arrests, no maintenance, only shared parenting," assembled near Indira Park while some distributed fliers to people who had gathered there to witnesses this novel

demonstration with amusement.

"Every relationship has its own share of ups and downs. However, with every passing year, men are slapped with false dowry and maintenance cases if the demands of the wife or her family are not met," said P V S S Ramakrishna, city-based software professional.

He emphasised that SIFF is not against women and quoted National Crime Records Bureau data that states that 62,433 married men committed suicides compared to 32,582 married women during 2011.

Women activists said while there have been cases of misuse but they are very negligible.

On the other hand, the male protesters said police harassment starts soon after the complaint is lodged without any investigation and men are put behind bars along with their families.

Innocent men are put behind bars and there are several cases when NRIs were deported to India and have lost plum jobs, protesters said.

"Citing mental torture, my wife took away my 3-year-old child and I haven't seen him for the last 3 years except on one occasion for about an hour," said Sachin Kshirsagar , a software professional based in Chicago and currently in Hyderabad to attend the court proceedings.

"My wife was having an affair. When I intimated her family about her continuing the relationship, they took her side. I couldn't do anything. After six years of marriage I collected enough evidence and went to the court to file for divorce about a year ago," said Partha Sadhukhan, another IT professional.

In another case, when Arun Sharma (name changed) got to know that his child was actually born out of wedlock, he went to court. The court ordered maintenance to be given to the wife and the child and divorce is yet to be granted.

"While the husband toils to prove his innocence, the wife enjoys the husband's hard-earned money in the name of maintenance," Shah Ali Ahmed , convener, SIFF, that organised similar protests in various parts of the country on Saturday.

According to Partha, women are increasingly misusing dowry laws for money. "Extortion is the only reason. They want money," he said. He further said that the foundation is protesting against the gender biased nature of laws and want to make them gender neutral so that innocents are not punished.

They claimed that the conviction rate in marital dispute cases is two per cent and that the rest of the 98% cases are false cases.

