Marriage is one of the basic tools for starting a family, but the institution of civil marriage has under gone enormous changes in recent decades. First of all, it is necessary to examine what the word "marriage" means, that is, "marriage is a voluntary union for the life of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others". It is a building that has to be rebuilt every day. Here, in this social institution, the husband has a duty to care for and support his wife. He cannot neglect his duties. But like all positive aspects of an action, there are also negative aspects of an action. In other words, the institution of marriage suffers from a serious social ill like dowry; for which, the husband uses physical and mental cruelty to his wife. Women are abused, molested, killed and divorced for the simple reason that they didn't bring a dowry. In order to protect women's interests from the cruelty to which they are subjected behind the four walls of their marital home, the Indian Penal Code 1860 was amended in 1983 to add Section 498A dealing with spousal cruelty against a woman. However, today in the 21st century, the notion of cruelty that husbands once used on married women has taken on a new color and the tide has turned. With the introduction of this section, over time it came to be seen as "armor" to counter brutality against male members of society, and it became clear that Section 498A, left many loopholes that seemed to become powerful "weapons" if they fell into the wrong hands. This research attempts to analyse the concept of cruelty to women and also examine instances where this particular section is abused through various judgements