Domestic Violence In India

Domestic Violence In India

By Adv. Sandigdha Mishra

advsandigdha@paydirtprofessionals.com

Domestic violence can be physical, emotional, verbal, economic and sexual abuse. Domestic violence can be subtle, coercive or violent. In India, 70% of women are victims of domestic violence. 38% of Indian men admit they have physically abused their partners.

Domestic violence is sadly a reality in Indian society, a truism. In the Indian mel dominated society, it became an acceptable practice to abuse women. There may be many reasons for the occurrence of domestic violence. It could be said that the occurrence of domestic violence against women arises out of the stereotyping of gender roles, and the distribution of power, real or perceived, in society. Following such ideology, men are believed to be stronger than women and more powerful. They control women and their lives and as a result of this power play, they may hurt women with impunity. The role of the woman is to accept her ‘fate’ and the violence employed against her meekly.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (or the Domestic Violence Act) is a appreciated piece of legislation that was enacted in 2005 to tackle this problem. The Act in theory goes a long way towards protection of women in the domestic setup. It is the first substantial step in the direction of vanquishing the questionable public/private distinction traditionally maintained in the law, which has been challenged by feminists time and again. Admittedly, women could earlier approach the Courts under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in cases of domestic violence. However, the kinds of domestic violence contemplated by this Act, and the victims recognized by it, make it more expansive in scope than the IPC. The IPC never used the term domestic violence to refer to this objectionable practice. In fact, the only similar class of offences addressed by the IPC dealt with cruelty to married women. All other instances of domestic violence within the household had to be dealt with under the offences that the respective acts of violence constituted under the IPC without any regard to the gender of the victim.

There are three laws in place in India that deal directly with domestic violence: 

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. 

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

 And Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is a civil law that provides protection to women in a household, from men in the household. This law not only protects women who are married to men but it also protects women who are in live-in relationships, as well as family members including mothers, grandmothers, etc. Under this law, women can seek protection against domestic violence, financial compensation, the right to live in their shared household, and they can get maintenance from their abuser in case they are living apart.

Domestic violence

Watch: These are the laws in India against domestic violence

Domestic violence is a social evil prevalent all around us. It is high time that we stop ignoring it and start equipping ourselves to deal with it.

Sanyukta Dharmadhikari

Thursday, February 28, 2019 - 21:43

         

Domestic violence and dowry deaths are prevalent in India. And by that, I mean it’s all around us. We all know of people in our families or among our friends who have at some point faced domestic violence, or have perpetrated it. But how often have we looked away and done nothing because we don’t know what to do?

There are three laws in place in India that deal directly with domestic violence: The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. And Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is a civil law that provides protection to women in a household, from men in the household. This law not only protects women who are married to men but it also protects women who are in live-in relationships, as well as family members including mothers, grandmothers, etc. Under this law, women can seek protection against domestic violence, financial compensation, the right to live in their shared household, and they can get maintenance from their abuser in case they are living apart. This law is to ensure that women do not get kicked out of their own homes and are able to sustain themselves if they have been abused. It is also meant for protecting women from their abusers – a Magistrate can pass a protection order under the Act to ensure the abuser doesn’t contact or get close to the survivor.

The second law is the Dowry Prohibition Act. This is a criminal law that punishes the taking and giving of dowry. Under this law, if someone takes, gives or even demands dowry, they can be imprisoned for 6 months or they can be fined upto Rs 5,000.

The third law that exists to help women who are facing violence at home is Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty). This is a criminal law, which applies to husbands or relatives of husbands who are cruel to women. Cruelty refers to any conduct that drives a woman to suicide or causes grave injury to her life or health – including mental health – and also includes harassment in the name of dowry. If convicted, people can be sent to jail for up to 3 years under this law.

Domestic violence is a social evil that is all around us. It’s high time that we stop ignoring it, and start equipping ourselves to deal with it.

The Act, in a bold break from prior legislations, gives a very expansive definition to the term “domestic violence”, a term hitherto not even used in legal parlance. Domestic violence is defined in a comprehensive way in Sec.3 of the Act, comprising
1. physical, mental, verbal, emotional, sexual and economic abuse,
2. harassment for dowry,
3. acts of threatening to abuse the victim or any other person related to her.

The detailed procedure of the Domestic Violence Act is as mentioned below  

1. Filing the complaint u/s 12 of D.V.Act along with other sections as per the case. 

2. The court will take cognizance and issue summon to respondent and PO for appearance and Domestic Incident Report.

3. Reply Filed by the Respondent. 

4. Replication filed by Complainant if any 

5. Detail affidavit filed by both the parties if required by the court.

 6. argument on the interim application if any filed by Complainant.

7. The order passed by Court on Interim application. 

8. The appeal against Interim order by aggrieved party u/s 29 of D.V. Act within one month. 

9. issues framed by Court/Evidence filed by Complainant by way of affidavit or any other witnesses.

10. Cross-examination of the complainant and other witnesses. 

11. Argument 

12. Judgment

Thank you.