NAGPUR: Recently, a clip of a daughter-in-law beating her feeble mother-in-law surfaced. Soon after being arrested by the police, she was released. This has irked men’s rights activists of the country who say that if the genders were reversed, the husband’s family members would have never been released.They also say such instances highlight the need for the law to protect men and their families from domestic violence as much as women. In this particular case, they noted that despite there being disputes between the woman and her husband, she was granted the right to residence under the Domestic Violence Act, which the activists blame for making the mother-in-law susceptible to violence by daughter-in-law.“Family laws in India protect only daughters-in-law. The reality is men and their families are also harassed by the daughters-in-law. These incidents are not even rare. Our organization has many similar complaints. As there is no law to punish such women, no action is taken against them,” said president of Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) Rajesh Vakharia. Without Domestic Violence law for men and their families, only extreme cases and deaths were dealt with by the courts, he said.National coordinator of SIFF Sujit Deshpande said a fair justice system meant justice for all irrespective of class, caste, religion and gender. “To achieve a fair justice system, it is very important that a message is spread in the society that crime and criminals do not have a gender. It is clear violation of human rights if we do not have a law to protect one section of society ie the old and vulnerable parents-in-law from another section of society, the abusive daughters-in-laws,” he said.“What kind of women empowerment is this if the old women are not safe in the hands of their young daughters-in-law? Is lndian Penal Code only for young women,” asked SIFF spokesperson Jyoti Tiwari. “If rape law can be amended on one gruesome incident, why can’t we amend domestic violence law after so many gruesome incidents, what are we waiting for? Are men and their families not part of society,” asked Vakharia.