The Ernakulam sub-jail erupted in cheers and a shower of flowers as Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the 2017 Kerala actor assault case, walked free on September 20, 2024. After spending 7.5 years behind bars, Suni, a man accused of rape, was granted bail by the Supreme Court. A grand welcome awaited him outside the prison, organised by members of the All Kerala Men’s Association (AKMA). The moment Suni stepped beyond the jail gates, the crowd broke into applause.
“Suni spent over seven years in prison without his guilt being proved. The legal system is harsher on men—had it been a woman, she would have secured bail much earlier,” claimed Ajith Kumar, AKMA’s founder and president, addressing the media. He further added that there should be “gender equality” in the judicial process. Ajith Kumar conveniently ignored the fact that Suni was released from jail not because he was proven to be innocent but merely because the court granted him bail since the trial had gone on for too many years.
This is not the first time AKMA members have orchestrated grand welcomes for alleged sexual offenders. In June 2023, they celebrated the release of 28-year-old Savad Sha, who had been arrested for flashing a woman and masturbating on a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus.
In the high-profile Kerala actor assault case, AKMA has consistently supported both Pulsar Suni, who is the prime accused, and popular Malayalam actor Dileep, the eighth accused. Dileep, who is accused of paying Suni to abduct and sexually assault the woman actor, as part of a vengeance plot, was arrested in July 2017.
In January 2022, AKMA organised a protest march in Thiruvananthapuram under the banner, ‘Stop persecuting actor Dileep’. The event was set to be inaugurated by director Santhivila Dinesh at the state secretariat, but was stopped following police intervention.
Their stance became even more evident in recent incidents, for example their support for Kerala businessman Boby Chemmanur after he was arrested in January 2025 for making sexually coloured remarks about actor Honey Rose.
AKMA also vocally defended male actors in the Malayalam film industry who faced sexual misconduct allegations after the release of the Hema Committee report. The committee, which was set up to look into issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, found rampant sexual harassment and horrifying instances of women being sexually exploited by ‘powerful’ men including superstars.
AKMA’s actions have gone beyond mere advocacy. Its members have shared pictures of survivors on social media, often accompanied by sexually charged captions. Recently, they even conducted a controversial event in Thiruvananthapuram, where they poured milk over a flex board of the judge in the Sharon Raj murder case after the judge pronounced capital punishment for Sharon Raj’s girlfriend, Greeshma.
What exactly are these men fighting for? What are their claims, how much of it is true, and how do these movements affect the broader gender discourse in Kerala? To understand their perspective, TNM spoke to several men’s rights activists (MRAs) and organisations across the state. A common thread in these conversations is their strong opposition to feminism, which they perceive as unnecessary in today’s society. They argue that women are already empowered and that gender-specific laws unfairly favour women, allowing them to manipulate the system for personal gain.
Men’s activism in Kerala
Men’s rights advocacy is a legitimate global movement that addresses issues such as false accusations, men’s mental health, and legal biases in family courts. However, in Kerala, many MRAs have adopted a regressive stance on women’s rights and feminism, often arguing that women are already overly empowered and that laws disproportionately favour them.
The Men’s Rights Movement (MRM) has been active for decades worldwide. According to Next Gen Men, the movement consists of men and boys who challenge social and institutional structures they believe discriminate against them. Their most common grievances include family law disputes (such as child custody and alimony), reproductive rights, domestic violence against men, circumcision, conscription, education disparities, high suicide rates, and health policies.
In India, men’s rights activism gained momentum in the 1990s, as documented in Srimati Basu’s research paper ‘Gathering Steam: Organising Strategies of the Indian Men’s Rights Movement’. Much like its global counterpart, the movement in India has largely focused on marriage, family law, and cases involving alleged harassment by wives and their families.
Recently the movement saw a major surge in Kerala and across the country following the death of Atul Subhash, a Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence engineer who died by suicide citing harassment from his wife and in-laws. His death sparked widespread debate on social media and mainstream news platforms, amplifying calls for stronger protections for men in legal and societal frameworks.
Kerala has several men’s advocacy groups, but AKMA stands out due to its vocal interventions in cases involving men accused of sexual assault or harassment. The group firmly believes that most sexual abuse and domestic violence cases filed by women are fabricated, despite lacking any concrete data to support this claim. They actively spread this narrative across various social media platforms.
Although AKMA was officially registered in 2017, its origins can be traced back to 2005 when Ajith Kumar began advocating for men’s rights following his own divorce. A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Ajith says his activism was triggered by personal experience.
“After issues arose between my wife and me, she filed a false complaint against me at the police station and later approached the Women’s Commission. During my visits to the police station, I realised that many men were facing similar harassment due to fake cases filed by their spouses. That’s when I decided to start working for them,” Ajith explained, adding, “During the initial stages, I was not able to register the association because I did not have the money to afford the registration fees. It was only in 2017 that I got AKMA registered.”
Today, AKMA has over 100 registered members and hundreds more engaging with its cause through social media. The group strongly believes that the Indian judicial system should stop granting ‘special privileges’ to women, arguing that the oppression women faced a century ago is no longer relevant.
“The laws that were established to uplift women are no longer needed in the current context of the country. Aside from a small percentage, most women are already uplifted,” Rahul Mohanchandran, a member and the treasurer of AKMA, declared to TNM.
However, this is far from the reality in India. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women increased by 4 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year – total number of crimes against women in 2022 was 4,26,433 as opposed to 4,09,273 in 2021. The crimes include rape, attempt to rape, dowry deaths, acid attacks, attempted acid attacks, cruelty by husband and/or his family, kidnapping, trafficking, assault, cyber crimes, and crimes registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, among others.
Men’s Rights Foundation (MRF) is another Kerala based organisation that is actively involved with raising the concerns of men. A non-governmental organisation, MRF was officially established on January 1, 2022. According to one of the founding members, Biju Joseph, the NGO’s primary objective is to help ‘innocent’ men from ‘fake’ cases and provide them with legal aid.
“MRF only intervenes and provides necessary assistance in cases where it can be prima facie found that the man is innocent in matters involving women,” Biju said.
According to him, the NGO conducts expert interviews, performs scientific examinations, and carries out primary investigations based on the interviews in order to establish the facts, and only then intervenes in any case.
MRF uses the services of Thrissur-based advocate Kishorekumar and associates. In cases where a man needs legal help, MRF directs him to Kishorekumar and pays the fees.
A cursory look through MRF’s Facebook page shows posts about how men are trapped in false cases filed by women, how women exploit men by asking alimony, etc. Recently, many members of the page took exception to the Madras High Court ruling that unwelcome behaviour in the workplace also constituted sexual harassment as the act itself constituted a criminal offence regardless of the harasser’s intentions. Some members had shared this news with the caption “beware of employers who hire women employees”.
However, MRF does not intervene or support men when they are accused of sexual violence. “MRF never supports anyone who is under a criminal shadow,” said Biju. He also added that there is a group rule that “degrading comments about things such as race, religion, culture, gender or identity will not be tolerated”.
Apart from these organisations, Kerala has a prominent voice who is not part of any particular group but is known for fighting for the ‘rights’ of men – Rahul Easwar. He also vigorously campaigned against women’s entry into the Sabarimala shrine. He is a constant on television debates on different topics, including supporting the accused in sexual abuse cases. Recently, he appeared on TV to support Boby Chemmannur in the Honey Rose issue, during which he slut-shamed Honey. Though she later filed a complaint against Rahul, the police did not register an FIR.
When it comes to the actor assault case, Rahul strongly supports Dileep. “In the case of Pulsar Suni, I believe he committed that crime as the survivor has stated. But when it comes to the accusations against Dileep, the survivor never said his name,” Rahul told TNM.
Against the ‘privileges’ of women
According to these men’s association members, women in India are privileged because many of our country’s laws protect them. They believe that women take advantage of these laws and manipulate situations to create cases against men. “Men are just a complaint away from a woman,” said Prathap, a member of AKMA. Adding that they are not against women, he said, “We all respect women and have women friends. But a lot of manipulation is happening now.”
All MRAs who TNM spoke with expressed fear of becoming a victim of ‘fake’ allegations by women.
Biju stated, “Men are scared because even if it is the woman who behaved with them atrociously, even in public, it is men whose life is ruined.”
Biju alleged that by making laws more favourable to women and discussing only their issues, society is forgetting to address the issues faced by men. “According to NCRB statistics, men’s suicide rate is three times higher than that of women, but the establishment is distorting or hiding the truth,” he added. Rahul also raised this point and claimed that since the suicide rate among married men is high, it could be due to spousal abuse.
The high number of men’s suicides is quoted by such activists all over; however, what they fail to disclose is that the reason behind these suicides is often not women.
According to NCRB data, on average, between 2015 and 2022, nearly 1,01,188 men died by suicide each year, compared to 43,314 women. However, this story done by TNM found that the primary reason for suicide, irrespective of gender, is “family problems”. The second largest cause of suicide is illness, contributing to 23.05 percent of deaths. Then third most common cause is marriage-related issues, responsible for 3.28 percent of suicides among men and 9.66 percent among women.
In an interview with TNM, senior Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover stated that we should refer to these men’s activists as husband’s rights activists. “They are actually not speaking for men. Recently a male journalist was found dead in Chhattisgarh, just after he exposed a scam. I don’t hear any men getting agitated. They don’t care about male farmer suicide, they might have been married. They are exploiting statistics,” she added.
Another concern raised by MRAs is the publication of the identity and photo of men who are accused in cases such as dowry harassment, sexual abuse, and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO). “Why is the media publishing the pictures of such men… what if they are innocent? So, what we are asking is to publish photos only if there is prima facie evidence which suggests that the men are involved in the crime,” Rahul Easwar said.
MRAs in Kerala also want a men’s commission to be established and have even been able to mobilise support from women.
Among them is Malayalam actor Priyanka Anoop, who held a press conference along with members of AKMA and Rahul Easwar to voice her support. Speaking to the media later, she stated that society treats men and women unequally and provides more support to women on various issues. “I will support men because I have always felt they do not receive justice. I also support setting up a men’s commission,” she said.
Priyanka urged the media to treat both men and women equally and to expose mistakes on both sides. “Whatever happens in my life, I will always give a prominent position to men in my life,” she added.
She also made some problematic statements. “If a woman goes to a hotel room with a man, she should be responsible for what happens there, not the man. If men’s faces are shown in the media, women’s faces should also be shown.”
Priyanka is not alone in blaming women for what they endure. Even in the Hema Committee report, some observations – made by veteran actor and committee member Sharada – were problematic and regressive. Indulging in slut-shaming, Sharada observed that the way women in the industry dress these days is “not correct”.
A hatred of feminism
The most common sentiment among MRA members is an intense hatred of feminism. Talking to them it becomes clear that their problem is with the freedom women have in making choices and not tolerating anything they are uncomfortable with. Even though MRAs agree that gender inequality is an irrefutable reality in society and has remained unsolved for many years, they are still against feminism and feminists.
When asked what feminism is, AKMA’s Rahul Mohanchandran said, “Feminism means equal opportunities and rights should be given to all people in society. According to me, we have achieved that and what we see now is not feminism, it is female chauvinism. Female chauvinism in the name of feminism is disrespecting feminism.”
“If feminists want equality, why are they not asking to stop women’s reservation?” Rahul Mohanchandran asked. “If the reservation is for uplifting women, they are already uplifted. In rural areas, this is not the case but in urban areas, they are uplifted.” He further clarified that the feminists he is referring to are extremists, not the ‘real feminists’. He added that if feminists want reservation, it should be 50 percent men and 50 percent women, citing the example of reserved seats for women in public transport.
“We have reserved seats for women on buses. But most of the time women sit in the general seat, even though ladies’ seats are vacant. So, men end up standing for the whole journey. Men are scared to sit with women even if the nearby seats are vacant… what if a woman registers a fake harassment case?” he explained.
However, the reality is that women are provided reserved seats in public transportation mainly due to safety concerns. In Kerala, the State Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 stipulates 25 percent seats for women in all buses.
Amid these complaints of preferential treatment for women, it is notable that our very Constitution gives special consideration to women. Even though Article 14 says that everyone is equal, Article 15(3) allows the state to make special provisions for women and children and for disadvantaged groups.
MRF’s explanation for opposing feminism is that it has never embraced humanity. “Its agenda is systematically designed to exploit men’s wealth. Most people in the world, especially in India, don’t know that feminism is a honey trap. Those who are trapped are aware of its terror, although most of them don’t realise that feminism is behind their loss,” Biju Joseph told TNM.
According to renowned feminist author bell hooks, “feminism is the movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” She gave this definition in her book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. It is clear that feminism is not anti-men, which is what the majority of MRAs think.
According to writer Sowmya Rajendran, feminism does not say men are the problem; rather, it acknowledges that people of all genders play a role in sustaining patriarchy. She explains that patriarchy means the ‘rule of the father’, “a social system where values, qualities and structures that are considered to be masculine are celebrated as the norm.” She also notes that patriarchy can be oppressive to everyone. For example, how it traps men by forcing them to be the breadwinners, financial caretakers, and providers for their families.
What exactly do MRAs want?
To address the alleged challenges, the men’s rights activists in Kerala have a solution – establishment of a men’s commission. When asked what that would achieve, this is the only answer they had: “Men need a space to tackle false allegations and cases against them.”
Rahul Easwar recently approached Congress leader Eldhose Kunnappilly about setting up the men’s commission. On January 24, Eldhose sent a draft demanding the formation of a men’s commission to Kerala Speaker AN Shamseer, to present it as a private member’s bill in the Assembly. While the draft bill acknowledges that greater consideration should be given to women as per the Constitution, its primary focus is to address the issues faced by men in modern times.
According to the bill, the men’s commission should have 10 members who are led by a chairman, who should be a retired High Court judge. While the chairman will be male, the commission will comprise one woman representative and at least one man belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
On the question of relevance of the commission, Rahul Easwar said, “We have courts, but still we have the human rights commission and the women’s commission, because we need more avenues for justice. The time taken for court procedures is comparatively high. So, if women go to the women’s commission, they get a women-friendly space. Similarly, the men’s commission will provide a friendly space for men. Men’s commissions will be complementary to the women’s commissions, not contradictory,” he explained.
Under the provisions of the Constitution, the National Commission for Women (NCW) was established on January 31, 1990. In Kerala, the Kerala Women’s Commission Act was passed on September 15, 1995, and the first commission came into force on March 14, 1996.
Interestingly, this is not the first request for the formation of a men’s commission. In 2023, advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking the constitution of a National Commission for Men. He sought guidelines to deal with the instances of suicide by married men subjected to domestic violence. His plea stated that in 2021, 33.2 percent of men ended their lives because of family problems and 4.8 percent due to marriage-related issues.
The SC division bench, consisting of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta, expressed disinclination to entertain the matter, and orally remarked that the petitioner wanted to project a one-sided picture. “If you expect us to hold that these husbands have committed suicide because of harassment by the wife, you are sadly mistaken,” the SC told the petitioner, as per a Live Law report. The court also said that in case of harassment by the wife, the victim’s family can file a case and the law will take care of the matter.
“We know that women are facing more challenges than men, such as bullying, harassment, and others. We understand, acknowledge, and respect that. But in the present century, there are many challenges that men face,” Rahul Easwar said.
Fake cases and the law
Section 498A of the IPC, now replaced by sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), pertains to the law regarding cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband or his relatives. The term ‘cruelty’ is defined broadly as including physical harm or mental (psychological) harm to the body or the health of the woman as well as harassing acts intended to pressure the woman or her family into meeting any illegal demands for property and valuable security. Demanding dowry also falls under this section. The law, introduced in 1983, calls for a sentence of up to three years and a fine for offenders.
The emergence of 489A had a specific social context in India. “In the 1980s, joint families were more common and women who entered into a family after marriage barely knew anybody. Therefore, there is a possibility things [might not go] well for her in a hostile environment. That is why this law came about,” she said. She added that dowry continues to be part of our social and cultural practice in all classes, castes, and religions even now and that has been taking a serious toll on women’s life for years.
However, MRAs argue that women unfairly utilise this law when they want a divorce or want to threaten their husband. “The advocates whom women approach for filing divorce suggest adding 498A to make the case stronger… they do this even though they know it’s a fake case,” Prathap said. He added that many men are now approaching the AKMA for help with such cases.
Rahul Easwar said that women cannot be blamed because in most cases it was male advocates who suggest filing fake cases. “But where will these men who are victims go? Thus the importance of the men’s commission. Male victims can ask for help in legal and mental counselling. If a man is not financially able to hire a prominent lawyer, he needs a space to go,” Rahul said.
“When we speak about fake cases, women change the topic and talk about things that happened 100 years ago. We know that rape and other assaults happen but there are laws to deal with them, while we don’t have laws supporting men,” Rahul Mohanchandran claimed. He also argued that as taxpayers of this country, men too had the right to get justice.
Through the continuous argument about fake cases, MRAs have created the notion that women can file fake complaints and escape without any consequences. But filing fake complaints is a punishable offence under Section 229 of the BNS. The section states that whoever intentionally gives false evidence in any judicial proceeding or fabricates false evidence to be used in any stage of a judicial proceeding shall be punished. The punishment can be imprisonment for a term that may extend to seven years and a fine that may extend to Rs 10,000.
Recently the Supreme Court came down heavily on the rising numbers of 498A misuse cases. The court noted that due to growing discord and tensions in marriages, the tendency to misuse provisions like 498A to unleash personal vendetta against the husband and his family has also increased.
“While we discuss the misuse of law, let us not forget that dowry is a pervasive practice across the country. As we know, the dowry prohibition law has been ineffective and dowry continues to be a part of our social and cultural practice in all classes, castes, and religions today,” Vrinda Grover further added. Dowry harassment and deaths due to the harassment are still widespread in our society. There have been several such cases reported in Kerala in recent times.
Meanwhile, MRF’s Biju Joseph claimed that 98 percent of the cases filed under 498A are fake. “Under the Right to Information Act, I obtained data from NCRB regarding the total number of IPC 498A cases over a span of five years (2016 to 2021) for Kerala, as well as the percentage of convictions. According to the data, in cases where court trials were completed, less than 2 percent of the accused were convicted. This shows that 98 percent of the cases are fake,” Biju argued.
However, from this data, it cannot be extrapolated that 98 percent of the cases are fake. According to a police source, cases without convictions cannot be interpreted as fake cases. “We cannot say that the cases without conviction are all fake cases. Because such cases – apart from quashed cases – will be considered as pending and carried forward to the next year. They can be determined to be fake only after the investigation is over,” he added.
When MRAs claim misuse of 498A, it is important to acknowledge the dark reality that every day 17 to 18 women lose their lives due to dowry-related issues. According to NCRB data, 6,450 dowry deaths were reported in 2022 alone.
As Rahul Mohanchandran of the AKMA put it, the issue isn’t the law itself, but rather how it can be exploited. “The privileges are given to women for their safety and we do not mind that. But the problem comes when they take advantage of it. Any human being who gets such power will take advantage. So, we are against this power.”
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