His only fault was being born with a penis. A well respected citizen of the society, a man who paid his taxes, provides for his family, good with his friends, nice to his employees, but now serving time in a 50 by 50 cell with not so respectable citizens of the society. His one and only mistake besides the one mentioned in the beginning was: to commit adultery.
Adultery, the word comes from latin adulterium which means to pollute, but we are not here to discuss it’s etymology, we are not here to discuss the serious implications of adultery on society or family but how adultery can land a man and a man only from the lascivious ongoing action to prison.
What ruined this man’s life? His decision of sleeping with other woman? Nah!
It was another ill-conceived law, Section 497 of Indian penal code. A law which put man behind bars and sets the woman, an equal accomplice, free as a jay bird, as they don’t find her an abettor in this inglorious act even though adultery or philandery (as some may call it) happens with full consent of both the sexes and men may even be lured into it by a woman’s voluptuous figure. Can you blame them :P
According to section 497 in the Indian penal code:
“Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.”
In a world where we talk about equality of sexes, where women walks shoulder to shoulder with man in every sphere, there is one sphere where they still are the weaker link, the damsel in distress, trying to avoid their share of blame. If we come to think about it, what part did Indian government cannot come to terms with, they (government) here are challenging the basic laws on which sex is based. It takes two to fall in love, two to form a couple, two to get pregnant and certainly two to be involved in a sexual act which can be coined as adultery. A man flogging the dolphin while looking at his neighbor’s wife is hardly considered as adultery.
I am not against womanhood, if it were to me I would keep all the sexy ladies out of prison, but this is high time when women of India rise up (after taking a sip of tata tea- jaago mahilaon jaago), instead of asking for reservation, a separate line, seats in DTC, a whole coach in metro, it’s time for them to accept their responsibility, to stand shoulder to shoulder with man in the court of law.
In France, a wife guilty of adultery is punishable from minimum three months to maximum of two years of imprisonment. The husband however has the discretion to end her sentence and take her back. Our laws are on the line with the laws of England. Even in England adultery is not a criminal offence, but doing so in India would give shiv sena another reason to attack the gonverment, even if almost all of them have tasted the fruit of infidelity.
All I ask from government if not abolish adultery, then at least bend the law and blend in the feminine flavor.
For all the men out there, my advice, hold your horses, why commit adultery when you have a beautiful wife at home, who loves you more than you can imagine.
And if you do slip now and then, just make sure her husband never finds out ;)
