The sign has been up for nearly a month now. And if Chugh is to be believed, the letters -- you are advised to write in with your complaints -- have come pouring in. Armed with approximately 150 letters from ``all over the world'' Chugh plans to collect at least one lakh. He has no plan as of now, but gives the impression that he will galvanise himself into action once he reaches the magic number. ``Apart from the letters, 3,000-4,000 men have come and met me with their problems. Once I collect one lakh letters I will approach the National Commission for Women, National Human Rights Commission and Chief Justice of India and ask them to take immediate action.'' But as of now, the letters continue to pile up in a dusty, black briefcase.

It is difficult to describe Chugh, the person who set up the Crime Against Man (sic) Cell in 1988 also called the Akhil Bharatiya Patni Virodhi Morcha. He is a character straight out of the theatre of the absurd, guided by one motto: ``Husbands of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your wives.''

Vehemently denying that he is a misogynist, Chugh thinks that all women should stay at home and that they torture and trap their husbands by lodging false dowry harassment cases against them. Ironically, the man has been married three times. In fact he says that the bitter experiences of his first marriage and the ill-treatment meted out to his father prompted him to launch a campaign highlighting atrocities against men.

Speaking about his failed marriages a bitter Chugh says: ``My first marriage just lasted one month as she was a greedy woman.'' His second marriage six years later also failed. ``She was also a greedy woman who wanted me to sell our only house in a jhuggi colony, where my brothers and mother lived. I tolerated her avarice and stayed with her since it was my second marriage and I wanted it to work. I lived under the tyranny of that lady for six years, and eventually settled for a divorce by mutual consent.'' He quickly adds that he has been third-time lucky, and says that his wife supports his cause.

To justify his anti-women meanderings, the advocate produces a letter allegedly written by a Delhi resident who has threatened to commit suicide to escape his wife's dowry demands. There is no counselling or advice given. Neither is a legal solution found, if any. Chugh says that the letters will be forwarded to the concerned police commissioner. A classic case of passing the buck.

So what does he really do? Chugh sits in his fly-infested tin shed at Tis Hazari's western wing living on past glories (if that's what they can be called) newspaper and magazine articles about him since he started his organisation in 1988. He also talks about how the Dowry Prohibition Act is abused by women and how there are laws for animals but not husbands.

Chugh maintains that there is no such thing as crime against women. May be someone should inform him that there is one dowry death reported in the country every 102 minutes.