Supreme Court refuses to entertain PIL related to the increase in suicides among married men due to domestic violence, says “you are sadly mistaken”

While hearing a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) today regarding the increase in the suicide rate among married men due to domestic violence, the bench said “If you expect us to hold that these husbands have committed suicide because of harassment by the wife, you are sadly mistaken.” The PIL was filed seeking guidelines for setting up a ‘National Commission for Men’ to deal with such cases. The matter was presented before a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court including Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Surya Kant. The bench refused to entertain the PIL; therefore, the petitioner decided to withdraw. 

During the hearing of the matter, the petitioner submitted that “My prayer is that there is no provision or avenue where I can vent before taking such an extreme step.” Justice Kant further  said that “There is no question of misplaced sympathy for anyone, you want to project a one-sided picture which is not inclined to accept.” Moreover, the bench asked the petitioner “Can you give us data on how many young women in the country are dying within one, two, or three years of marriage?” 

The plea also highlighted NCRB data published in 2021 stating that 33.2% and 4.8% of men ended their lives due to family problems and marriage-related issues respectively. The plea also stated that this year 72% of men committed suicide whereas 27% of women did the same. After hearing the arguments, the Supreme Court said that “In cases where somebody is actually harassed by the wife, or it leads to committing suicide, whosoever are the victims of the crime, his family members can file a case, they can prosecute the person. The law takes care of this, there are adequate provisions for this.”