Anti-dowry laws: What about the men?

A still from Martyrs of Marriage showing a man holding a banner during a protest march

Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj's documentary, Martyrs of Marriage attempts to explore the other side of the controversial dowry law that was passed under Section 498 A of Indian Penal Code. Her film explores first-hand accounts of those who have suffered owing to the abuse of this law. Bhardwaj's core message is to make society realise that men can be victims too.

"I have seen the abuse of dowry laws from close quarters, and had been doing some amount of research on the same. I then stumbled upon the suicide video of a man called Makhdoom, victim of a false dowry case, whose son had also alienated him. That strengthened my resolve to make people more aware of this vice," she tells us.

Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj

A software engineer turned journalist, she had little experience in filmmaking up until then. This film took her four years to make. She managed to raise some funds through crowd-funding and combined that with her savings to make the film. "It wasn't easy to convince people to speak on camera. They feared that their accounts might invite more fierce litigation. They also found it hard to trust me, a total stranger. It was only once they understood my purpose, that they gradually began to open up," adds the filmmaker.

While the film has been screened in festivals in India and around the world and has garnered great feedback, the great win came when Bhardwaj got Netflix to stream it. "It's one of the most revered platforms for documentaries. I had pitched it to them with help from a friend and they agreed to stream it. I am really happy about that," she says.

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