ISP Delhi Bureau
Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj is an Indian journalist standing up for a unique and prominent cause which is very less talked about. She stands up for men in distress. This documentary film-maker is better known as a men’s rights activist. Deepika has produced a film named ‘Martyrs of Marriage’ which deals in detail about the pitiable situation of men in India who are faced with difficult situations due to misuse of laws by women and their families against them.
Most of the cases she fights for are the cases filed against men which alleges abuses of criminal section 498A, the Anti-Dowry Act in India. Most of her work involves interviewing the witnesses to understand the root cause of the cases and collecting evidence to give justice to the person in need. She has also produced and directed the documentary India’s Sons in the year 2021.
Deepika left a blooming career in IT and related sectors to pursue her passion for filmmaking. Her first stint with telling stories through films started with her documentary ‘Gramin Dak Sevak’ which won her a winner in the student category at the Jeevika Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival in the year 2009.
The turning point in her life happened when she fell victim to the false charges filed against her and the family under the Dowry Act. She and her cousin were charged under the provisions courtesy of a police-complaint by her ex-sister-in-law. Her family had to resolve the situation with an off-court settlement involving a huge sum of money. Since then, she has collaborated and worked along other men demanding the repealing of the law or to bring an amendment in the Act to make it gender-neutral.
Apart from fighting the victims of the Dowry Act, she has also been raising voices against false sexual harassment allegations against men. She successfully spearheaded the MenToo movement which was started in response to false allegations of the MeToo movement. She has written extensively in journals and newspapers on the repercussions of false allegations levelled against men in India. Her fights have also brought in some relief like in 2021, her role in busting the case where a female student of Atma Ram College in Delhi against her classmate for extorting money. One of her consistent campaigns against injustice has been her demand for the establishment of a National Commission for Men in India that would deal with cases and situations which are particularly the domestic violence and sexual assault against men.
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