The incidences of women filing false cases against men are increasing in India. Prior to the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape incident, very few women used to report about rape cases. After this incident, there was a sharp increase in women filing rape cases against men. Moreover, there was a surge in false rape cases being registered against men. As per a National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 38,947 rape cases were reported in India in 2016. In 10,068 cases about a quarter of the women claimed it was rape on the false promise of marriage. Around 45 per cent of all rape cases filed in 2014 and 2015 belonged to false marriage category.
Actor Anant Mahadevan said, “There are always two sides to a coin. It is very difficult to comment and each case is different. It really depends on the facts present in each case. We can’t generalise whether it is a man or a woman. Most of the time men are on the wrong side of the law. However, there might be a stray case of woman trying to take advantage of this. There is always an exception to the rule. Unfortunately, men are majorly responsible for these cases. Anybody who files a false complaint whether a man or woman it is wrong and it should be rectified.”
Man and woman enter into a consensual relationship. When he fails to keep the promise of marriage, woman files a false case of rape against him. In many cases, parents file false rape cases to simply conceal the shame of unmarried daughter having sex. Parents filing false rape cases are encouraged by the fact that rape victim’s identity is concealed.
Advocate Monica Arora said, “There are uses and misuses of every law. Lawmakers and police must ensure that the law is not misused against an innocent person. No innocent must get punished. The facts and circumstances of every case in #MeToo movement are different. Sexual harassment at workplace is happening.”
“Any woman speaking against sexual harassment is terminated from service. Women have started speaking about sexual harassment after the advent of social media and #MeToo movement. Many people who used to trouble women have been exposed. On the other hand, there are other women who are filing false complaint to blackmail and extort money. Such women should be exposed. If police and court do their work properly, the misuse of law can be prevented,” she added.
Justice B.G Kolse Patil said, “Every law is misused in the world. If false atrocity cases are not filed then atrocity law would have worked better. Whenever a law is framed it is misused more. Action must be taken against women filing false complaints.”
As per a Delhi Commission of Women report, 53.2 per cent of rape cases filed in the capital between April 2013 and July 2014 were found to be false. Fast Track Courts in Delhi constantly deal with complaints of fake rape cases. Another report from Jaipur Police says that there has been a significant rise in rape cases filed in the city in 2016. The Jaipur Police registered 330 rape cases solved 276 cases and 43 per cent turned out to be fake. According to the police, the main intention behind women filing this case is to extort money or implicate the accused. There are also cases where women have filed rape cases several years after the incident has occurred. The number of such cases has increased due to society’s permissiveness and women wanting to explore sexual relationships.
Here are some of the rape cases which have turned out to be false:-
Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by a fast track sessions court for raping his maid despite the victim turning hostile during the trial. The maid had backtracked from her allegations that Shiney had raped her at his residence in Mumbai and said the incident had never occurred. The girl informed the court that she had filed case against Shiney at the behest of the woman who had secured her the job of a maid in Shiney’s residence. Shiney was granted bail in 2011 on a cash bond of Rs 50,000 by the Bombay High Court.
In 2004 model Preeti Jain accused filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar of rape and filed a complaint with the Versova Police station. She alleged that Bhandarkar had raped her 16 times between 1999 to 2004 by promising to cast her in his films. Preeti also alleged that the filmmaker had promised to marry and produced SMS texts where he had repeatedly asked for sexual favours. In 2011, the police filed a report and claimed that cases filed against the actor were maliciously false. Preeti later decided against pursuing the case and she was even arrested for hiring a contract killer to murder Bhandarkar.
Last year a complaint was filed by producer Vinta Nanda against Bollywood actor Alok Nath accusing him of raping her. She also accused the actor of sexual harassment and rape in a detailed Facebook post. Alok Nath denied the charge and also filed a defamation case against her. The Sessions Court observed that the rape case against Alok Nath was filed on the basis of defamatory and false report of complainant Vinta Nanda. A pre-arrest bail was granted to the actor. Additional Sessions Court judge said the rape complaint filed by Vinta is a personal vendetta.
Actor-singer Karan Oberoi was arrested for allegedly raping and blackmailing a woman in Oshiwara. The woman had filed a complaint that the actor was in a relationship with her since 2016 and allegedly raped her on the pretext of marrying her. Actress Pooja Bedi started a campaign in support of the actor. According to Pooja, the woman has been misusing laws by filing false cases against men. She believes that the FIR is a vendetta against Karan. Pooja wondered while the complainant had alleged rape occurred in January 2017 she has been sending messages to him and asking for sexual favours in 2017 and 2018.
Here are the celebrities who have been exposed as a part of #MeToo movement in India but charges are yet to be proved against them.
Chetan Bhagat – Author Chetan Bhagat got himself embroiled in the movement when a woman shared screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between them. The author later tendered an apology on Facebook.
Kailash Kher – A female journalist accused singer Kailash Kher of harassment. Kailash nonetheless issued a statement in his defence, “For all those who know me and have come across me, will know how much I respect humanity, especially women, even more for the ones who work in media since their work is difficult.”
Utsav Chakraborty – Young girls accused Utsav Chakraborthy of sending vulgar messages requesting topless photos.
Rajat Kapoor – Actor Rajat Kapoor has been called out for alleged sexual harassment on Twitter with two women accusing him of indecent behavior.
Nana Patekar- Actress Tanushree Dutta took the industry by storm when she accused Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her 10 years ago on the set of her film Horn Ok Please.
