While women in Maharashtra prayed for the well-being and long life of their husbands on Vat Purnima today, a group of men here, claiming to be victims of harassment by their wives, sought "freedom" from them.
Vat Purnima, also called Vat Savitri, is a celebration where a married Hindu woman ties a ceremonial thread around a banyan tree, seeking the same husband in the next 7 births. On this day, Hindu women observe a day-long fast.
The celebration is based on the legend of Savitri and Satyavan, where Savitri "got back" her husband Satyavan's life from Yama, the god of death.
Members of the Patni Pidit Purush Sanghatana, an organisation of men who claim are victims of harassment by their wives, celebrated the festival with a difference in Waluj area on the outskirts of the city today.
They tied a thread around a Peepal (Ficus religiosa) tree by moving in an anti-clockwise direction, unlike women, chanting "Don't give this wife in the next seven births."
Sanghatana member Tushar Wakhre said, "Our wives harass us by misusing legal provisions. They have troubled us so much that we don't want to live with them even for seven seconds, let alone seven births."
The organisation founder Bharat Phulare and other members displayed banners related to the "misuse" of IPC sections 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Domestic Violence Act.
Another member said he wasted over Rs four lakh in legal expenditure as his wife "maliciously" filed police cases against him.
Another member said he does not need his wife any more as he cooks his own meals and completes all domestic work himself. "I lost my job due to her. I will rather die than see her face," was his parting shot.
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