Post498A: Shades of Domestic Violence

The subject of 'Post498A' is the reality of domestic violence in the era of globalization, and the debates surrounding the issue in a secular democratic nation-state. The Article 498A of the Indian Penal Code that deems the abuse of a married woman by her husband and his family a criminal offense has long been criticized both by women's rights advocates for being a partial, inadequate solution, and by some men who think it is a lethal weapon used by vindictive women at will. A relatively new law that the Indian Parliament passed in 2005 does not evoke the kind of strong reaction that 498A does. This film is the story of women's struggles within a postcolonial secular democracy's uneasy marriage with globalization.