Kashmir's Domestic Divide

As gender laws empower women, some men in Kashmir find themselves caught in legal battles they claim are rooted in false allegations. Their stories reveal a side of domestic conflict rarely told.

- M.M. Shuja

On a grey autumn morning in South Kashmir, Riyaz (name changed), a government schoolteacher, was taken into a local police station after his wife accused him of domestic violence. The case fell under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes cruelty by a husband or his relatives. His alleged crime: questioning his wife's frequent overnight stays at her parental home without informing him.

"The officer didn't even listen to my side," Riyaz said. "They just filed the complaint. I spent two nights in custody."

That was two years ago. The case is still dragging in court, and Riyaz has been suspended from his job. He hasn't seen his two sons since.

In Kashmir, as across India, Section 498A was introduced to protect women from dowry-related abuse. But some legal voices and men's rights advocates argue the law is now being misused in cases where disputes are less about cruelty and more about personal vendettas.

"Justice must be gender-neutral," said Advocate Shafqat Nazir, who practices at the J&K High Court. "We see rising instances where the law is used as a weapon, not a shield. And it's the silence of the men that makes these stories invisible."