DOMESTIC VOILENCE

Page | 1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
At the outset, I take this opportunity to thank my Professor Ms. Prakriti

Purohit, from the bottom of my heart who have been of immense help during

moments of anxiety and torpidity while the project was taking its crucial shape.

Page | 2
 DOMESTIC VOILENCE
IN
INDIA

Scope of Problem
If we knew that more than two-third of women had a debilitating disease
that is wearing them down mentally and physically, would we continue
to ignore it?

Statement of Purpose

This article studies domestic violence between husband and wife in India, and attitudes to
domestic violence. I have not used the term ‘gender-based violence’ because nowadays both
men and women use violence to control their spouses. The prevalence of domestic abuse
against women has been estimated as high as one in four. The risk is particularly high for
women who are younger, economically dependent, unemployed and with children. Research
about the factors that maintain situations of abuse has generally focused separately on the
coping strategies of women, barriers to leaving the relationship and the perpetrators' means of
abuse. Using grounded theory we generated Three themes: (1) forms of abuse; (2)
consequence of domestic violence; (3) remedies. These findings illustrate how situations of
domestic violence can be prolonged by limited options available to victims for support and
protection, and a lack of active public acknowledgement that domestic abuse is unacceptable.

Page | 3
OBJECTIVES:

 To describe about the domestic violence and its causes

 Toexplain about the forms of the domestic violence
 To show the growth of domestic violence in India by survey
 To show the subsequent consequences of the domestic violence

Research questions

 Can a woman ask for maintenance under the DV Act, as well as CrPC?
 Who can get maintenance under sec 125 of CrPC?

METHODOLOGY:

The project entitled ‘DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN INDIA’ is done by study in domestic

violence in India . By this project, I try to convey the concept of domestic violence and to
control it by many methods.

INDEX
S.No CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION

2 WHAT IS DOMESTIC VOILENCE?

3 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - A CRIMINAL OFFENCE:

4 FORMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
5 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DOMESTIC VOILENCE

 AGAINST WOMEN
 AGAINST MEN
 AGAINST CHILDREN

6 CONSEQUENCES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Page | 4
  EFFECTS ON VICTIM AND FAMILY.

 EFFECT ON THE SOCIETY

7 REMEDIES

8 CONCLUSION

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

10 BIBLIOGARHY

11 WEBSITES REFERRED

INTRODUCTION:

India is a country of vast culture and tradition. Most of the Indians, as to follow their tradition
do arranged marriage which leads to the less understanding of behaviour and character
between the husband and wives, which mostly results in domestic violence. Also, India from
its past is a male chauvinistic country where most husbands to show their superiority beat up
their wives, if they had difference in opinion in any family economic issues, which also leads
to domestic violence. Domestic violence was recognised as a criminal offence in India on
1983. The offence is chargeable under 498A of the Indian Penal Code. However, until
recently, there was no separate civil law addressing the specific complexities associated with
domestic violence, including the embedded nature of violence within familial networks, the
need for protection and maintenance of abused women, and the fact that punishment and
imprisonment for the husband may not be the best resolution in every case.

WHAT IS DOMESTIC VOILENCE?1

1
Panda, P. and Agarwal, B. 2005. Marital Violence, Human Development and Women’s Property Status in India.
World Development

Page | 5
 The term used to describe this exploding problem of violence within our homes is Domestic
Violence. This violence is towards someone who we are in a relationship with, be it a wife,
husband, son, daughter, mother, father, grandparent or any other family member. It can be a
male’s or a female’s atrocities towards another male or a female. Anyone can be a victim and
a victimizer. This violence has a tendency to explode in various forms such as physical,
sexual or emotional.2

Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, family violence, or
intimate partner violence can be broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviours by one or
both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, friends or
cohabitation. Domestic violence has many forms including physical aggression, or threats
thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking;
passive/covert abuse; and economic deprivation. Alcohol consumption and mental illness can
be co-morbid with abuse and present additional challenges when present alongside patterns of
abuse. Domestic violence in India includes any form of violence suffered by a person from a
biological relative, but typically is the violence suffered by a woman by male members of her
family or relatives. It occurs when afamily member, partner or ex-partner attempts to
physically or psychologically dominateanother. Domestic violence often refers to violence
between spouses, or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non-married intimate
partners. Domestic violenceoccurs in all cultures; people of all races, ethnicities, religions,
sexes and classes can be perpetrators of domestic violence. Domestic violence is perpetrated
by both men andwomen.

The Domestic Violence Act of 2005 of India legally defines domestic violence and the
prosecution guidelines of those cases that are reported to the police.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - A CRIMINAL OFFENCE:3

In 1983, domestic violence was recognized as a specific criminal offence by the introduction
of section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or
his family towards a married woman. The main legislative measures at the national level for
the children who become a victim of child labour include The Child Labour Prohibition and
Regulation Act -1986 and The Factories Act -1948. The first act was categorical in

2
Yogana, monthly magazine, article about domestic violence act, 2005.

3
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/dmt.htm

Page | 6
prohibiting the employment of children below fourteen years of age, and identified 57
processes and 13 occupations which were considered dangerous to the health and lives of
children. The factories act again prohibits the employment of children less than fourteen
years of age.

An act called Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 [DVA, 2005] also has
been passed. This Act ensures the reporting of cases of domestic violence against women to a
‘Protection Officer’ who then prepares a Domestic Incident Report to the Magistrate “and
forward copies thereof to the police officer in charge of the police station within the local
limits of jurisdiction.

FORMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:4

All the possible forms that will constitute the offence for a better understanding:

 PHYSICAL ABUSE

Physical abuse is the most pervasive and ancient method of subordinating of women in a
family, it is the most common control mechanism applied against a woman within the
domestic sphere.While defining Domestic Violence under the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005, in section 3 of the act Physical Abuse is explained as any act
or conduct which is of such nature as to cause bodily pain, harm or danger to life, limb, or
health or impair the health or development of the aggrieved person and include assault
criminal intimidation and criminal force.

 PSYCHOLOGICAL/ EMOTIONAL VIOLENCE

Causing of abuse to a woman in the domestic sphere is multidimensional. Under the

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 emotional or psychological abuse
which has been categorized as verbal, is explained as to include – insults, ridicule,
humiliation, name calling and insults especially with regard to not having a child or a male
child and repeated there as to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved
person is interested. Psychological abuses are one of the major forms of abuses faced by
women.

 SEXUAL ABUSE

4
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/domestic-violence-against-women-causes-and-cure-1709-
1.html

Page | 7
This form of abuse is specific to the interpersonal relation between a man and a woman most
often in a marital relationship. Of the many duties that a wife has towards her husband,
performance of sexual duties is one of them. A wife is never expected to neglect her duties
failure to carry out sexual duties or unfaith fullness appears to have been widely accepted and
understandable explanation for men’s violence. In present times men use sexual violence to
assert and maintain their superior masculinity. This form of abuse is more common in
households where men are literate and affluent. In a survey it was found that 79% of men
used sexual violence to control their wives’ fidelity and 57% of them had more than 6 years
of formal education.

 INTELLECTUAL ABUSE

Of all the abuses in Domestic Violence previously discussed, intellectual abuse has been
missing from all the definitions of Domestic Violence. This is perhaps because in India a
marital relationship or any other man-woman relationship is about the acceptance of
inequality, where men dominate and injure and women get dominated and endure. The entire
socialization process has an inherent isolation for both men and women, which inhibits
effective communication between the two. Even where domestic harmony exists, there is a
sense of isolation in thought whereby both men and women experience alienation from each
other and at a certain level they come out to be strangers. Different educational levels add to
the isolation as the mental levels are different and both find difficulties in relating to each
other at the intellect level. In most of instances it is seen that Indian marriages are clouded
with words such as adjustments and compromises.

CONSEQUENCES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:5

Since domestic violence depends on the personal feelings of the family members, its
consequences are also depends on the victims. The consequence thus broadly categorised
under the following:

 EFFECTS ON VICTIM AND FAMILY.

 EFFECT ON THE SOCIETY.

EFFECTS ON VICTIM AND FAMILY:6

5
Article by Ankur Kumar on domestic violence in India, Posted on February 7, 2010 in Editor's Picks, Society

6
http://www.legalindia.com/dhawesh_pahuja_article_about_domestic_violence

Page | 8
The effects on the victim and the family is also broadly divided into many types based on
whether the victim is a male or female or children.

 AGAINST WOMEN:

Since women are mostly mentally weak than men in India, the deadly consequence will be
suicide and such consequence is increasing nowadays. Because of their problems in the
house, many Indian women lose their concentration on work which leads to drop out from
work place. Some women leave their home immediately after atrocious attacks and beatings
from their husband and try to become self-defendant. Their survival becomes difficult and
painful when they have to work hard for earning two meals a day. Some of the women who
left their home are forcefully and willingly for their living involved in pornography and
women trafficking.

The major consequence of domestic violence against the women is that the child, who notices
what is done openly in front of his eyes may have a tendency to reciprocate the same in their
lives.

Because of the domestic violence against the women leads them to maintain a distance from
their partner. Their sexual life is affected adversely and also leads to a divorce and seek
separation which again affect the life of the children. In India, there are certain organisations
and Non-Governmental Organisations such as Women Welfare Association of India
(WWAI), Affus Woman Welfare Association (AWWA) and Woman’s Emancipation and
Development Trust (WEDT) to rescue the women who are being cruelly tortured by the their
in-laws and her husband.

 AGAINST MEN:

The consequences may be psychological because in many families men are not physically
harassed but mentally by his wife and in-laws for many reasons like not earning money for a
comfort living, for not giving a quality education to his child and other reasons. An
emotionally harassed and depressed man may lose interest in the occupation he is associated
with. There has been a spate of farmers’ suicide in recent years in Karnataka. Several farmers
have committed suicide not only because of indebtedness but also because of discord in
family and depression resulting out of it. According to statistics of Save India Family

Page | 9
Foundation (an NGO), around 1.2 lac harassed husbands have committed suicide in the
country in the last four years (2011-2015).

 AGAINST CHILRENS/TEENS:

The consequences in case of domestic violence against teens are far more drastic and its
effect is long lived. Children are sensitive to issues related to violence of any kind as they are
not mature enough to comprehend them. In their upcoming years, they used to do what they
learned from their parents. Now if the approach of parents itself is negative, children are
bound to get influenced by it. They may adopt the negative traits of the ill they see around
them or develop a hostile approach in life because of the ill-treatment they are subjected to. If
a child is beaten badly for underperforming in school, he may do the same to his children,
thinking it might be the only possible way of making a person to work hard. This may lead to
bad future of our country. The children who escape being a part of this vicious circle are
looked after by children welfare organizations like, Indian Child Welfare Association
(ICWA), Child Relief and You (CRY) and ChildLine etc.

EFFECT ON THE SOCIETY:

All the different forms of violence adversely affect the society. Violence against women may
keep them locked in homes submitting to the torture they face. If they come out in open and
reveal the wrong done to them for help and rescue, it influences the society both positively
and negatively. At one hand where it acts as an inspiration and ray of hope for other suffering
women, on the other hand it also spoils the atmosphere of the society. When something of
this kind happens in the society, few families may witness the evil of domestic violence
knocking their door steps. Some families try to imitate what others indulge in irrespective of
it being good or bad for the family.

Maintenance Under Section 125 CrPC and Domestic Violence ACT

This act is applicable to all persons belonging to all religions and has no relationship with the
personal law of the parties. It may also be noted that as the exercise of the powers to grant
maintenance is of a judicial character, only Judicial Magistrates of the First Class have been
empowered to deal with such matters of maintenance. Sections 125-128 prescribe a self-
contained speedy procedure for compelling a man to maintain his wife, children, and parents.
Though the relief given under this chapter is essentially of a civil nature, the findings of the
magistrate are not final and the parties can legitimately agitate their rights in a civil court
even after the order of the magistrate. The amount of maintenance under “section 125 of
crpc ” will be decided on the basis of the living before the separation and income of the
husband.

Page | 10
Sections 125 of CrPC provide for a speedy, effective, and rather an inexpensive remedy
against persons who neglect or refuse to maintain their dependent wives, children, and
parents. Though the subject matter of these provisions is civil in nature, the primary
justification for their inclusion in the Criminal Procedure Code is that a remedy more speedy
and economical than that available in civil courts is provided for by these sections for the
benefit of needy persons mentioned therein. It may also be said that these provisions are
aimed at preventing starvation and vagrancy leading to the commission of a crime.

Which wife cannot claim maintenance?

 If she had remarried to someone else then she cannot claim for maintenance under
section 125 of crpc.
 Is she is practicing adultery
 If she has sufficient means to maintain herself.
 If she refuses to stay with her husband without any sufficient cause.
 If there is a separation due to mutual consent.
What do you mean by unable to maintain herself?
The lifestyle or status before separation. She should get maintenance to enjoy the same
lifestyle or status after separation. If the wife is not sufficient to maintain herself, then the
husband is liable to provide maintenance.

Persons entitled to claim maintenance

 His wife: The term ‘wife’ appearing in Section 125(1) means only a legally wedded
wife.12 In the absence of a legal and valid marriage, the mere fact that the parties had
lived together as husband and wife to the knowledge of the public or otherwise could
not confer on the woman status of a ‘wife ’. The fact of the parties have lived together
as husband and wife for a long time would be relevant to raise only a presumption in
law of their being husband and Wife.13 However such a presumption is rebuttable on
the proof of the invalidity of the marriage. The conSideration of the other provisions
of Section 125 would strengthen the above View. firstly, the section while specifically
providing for both legitimate and illegitimate claims of their wives by just divorcing
them under the above said personal law.
 Section 125 applies both to women who have been divorced before or after the new
Code came into force. Under that section, a present right has been conferred in
relation to a past event and it will not make the section retrospective. Apart from that,
the section is both remedial and beneficial in character and in such circumstances, it is
the duty of the judge to construe it in such a manner as to suppress the mischief and
advance the remedy. Therefore it has been held that, under Section 125(1), even a
woman divorced before April 1, 1974 (Le. the date of coming into force of this Code)
could claim maintenance, provided the other conditions are satisfied.25
 According to the principles of Mohammedan Law, a divorced wife has a right to
claim maintenance from her husband only up to the expiry of the period of iddat and
not beyond that period. However, these principles were not held relevant while

Page | 11
 considering the provisions of Section 125. According to this view the meaning of the
word ‘wife’ as found in the Explanation to Section 125(1) indicated that a divorced
Mohammedan woman could bring action under Section 125 claiming maintenance
from her ex-husband so long as she did not marry even if the period falls beyond the
period of iddat.26 It was held that the Explanation (b) to Section 125(1) did not make
any distinction between Khula divorce and talaq divorce. In view of the Explanation,
Muslim women who had obtained a decree of divorce under the Dissolution of
Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 could also claim maintenance under Section 125(1).
 His legitimate or illegitimate child: If the child is minor it is immaterial whether it
is married or not. For the purposes of this chapter, Explanation (a) to Section 125 (1)
defines minor as meaning “a person who, under the provisions of the Indian Majority
Act, 1875, is deemed not to have attained his majority”. The child may be male or
female. A minor married girl may be entitled to claim maintenance from her husband
or her father (or maybe from both) provided the other necessary conditions are
satisfied. However, the proviso to Section 125(1) provides that if the husband of a
minor married female child is not possessed of sufficient means the father of such a
female child will be required to make allowance for the maintenance of such a female
child until she attains her majority.
 A Muslim father’s obligation like that of a Hindu father, to maintain his minor
children as contained in Section 125 is absolute and is not at all affected by Section
3(1)(b) of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.39
 His legitimate or illegitimate abnormal child who has attained majority: Where
such child is by reason of any physical or mental abnormality or injury unable to
maintain itself. However, a married daughter is not entitled to maintenance under
Section 125 if she has attained majority. In such cases, the responsibility of
maintaining her is that of the husband and not of the father.
 His father or mother: It is not quite clear from the section whether “father or
mother” will also mean “adoptive father or mother” or “stepfather or stepmother”.
According to Section 3(20) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, the word ‘father’ shall
include an ‘adoptive father’; and though the term ‘mother’ has not been similarly
defined, it has been held that the term ‘mother’ includes ‘adoptive mother’.40
However, it has also been held that having regard to the object and intention of
Section 125, the term ‘mother’ will have to be given its natural meaning and that it
would not include a ‘stepmother”.41 This view has since been reiterated by the AP.
High Court.42 The Supreme Court opined that a childless stepmother may claim
maintenance from her stepson provided she is a widow or her wife.
Land mark Judgements on Section 125 crpc
Chanchal Mehta vs Supriya Mehta on 29 January, 2016

REMEDIES:7

A recent study by the India’s National Crime Records (NCRB) has conclude that domestic
violence against the women is the fastest growing crime in India and also according to their
latest reports a crime is being recorded against their husband foe every three minutes in India.
7
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/02/domestic-violence-in-india-remedies

Page | 12
For every minutes, average of two women are raped in our country. Every six hours, a young
married woman is found beaten to death, burnt or driven to suicide.8

The main question which arise in our mind after seeing the present phenomena of domestic
violence is that how to reduce the occurrence of the domestic violence in not only but also in
the world. Since it depends on the mental problems of the spouse or the house members, it
can be fully curbed out of the society only by the willingness of each and every members of
the society. However with the help of the following, domestic violence can be controlled.

 Laws
 Non-Governmental Organisations
 Police

 LAWS:

At present there is no single law in the Indian Constitution which can strictly deal with all
the different forms of ‘Domestic Violence’ as discussed in this essay. There is an urgent need
for such a law in the country. In fact, there has also been misuse of section 498-A and DVA,
2005 because of restricted definition of cruelty subjected to married women.

Thus the law in our country should be changed and new amendments regarding the law
which deals with the domestic violence should be made to create a fear in the mind of the
monsters who tortures their spouses for their happiness or for silly reasons.

 NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS:

The role of non-governmental organizations in controlling the domestic violence and curbing
its worse consequences is essential. Some of the NGOs are

 Sakshi
 Majlis and Swaadhar in Mumbai
 Sneha in Chennai
 Vimochana in Bangalore

Sakshi — a violence intervention agency for women and children in Delhi works on cases
of sexual assault, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse and focuses on

8
http://www.domesticviolence.in/category/domestic-violence-statistics

Page | 13
equality education for judges and implementation of the 1997 Supreme Court’s sexual
harassment guidelines. Women’s Rights Initiative — another organization in the same city
runs a legal aid cell for cases of domestic abuse and works in collaboration with law
enforcers in the area of domestic violence.

In Mumbai, bodies like Majlis and Swaadhar are doing meaningful works in this field.
Sneha in Chennai and Vimochana in Bangalore are working on many women’s issues arising
from domestic abuse. They are also doing active work in issues related to labour. Services
ranging from counselling, education and outreach, giving provisions, and mobilizing them for
gaining self-confidence are provided to them. Anweshi is a women’s counselling centre in
Kozhikode providing meditation, resource and counselling for battered women. All the above
bodies have their own registered offices, contact numbers and websites for those who want to
seek help. There are at present only few NGOs for welfare of men like Social Welfare
Association for Men (SWAM) in Chennai. Few more such organizations need to be opened
for the help of abused men.

POLICE:

Police plays a major role in tackling the domestic violence cases. They need to be sensitized
to treat domestic violence cases as seriously as any other crime. Special training to handle
domestic violence cases should be imparted to police force. They should be provided with
information regarding support network of judiciary, government agencies/departments.
Gender training should be made mandatory in the trainings of the police officers. There
should be a separate wing of police dealing with women’s issues, attached to all police
stations and should be excluded from any other duty.

Authorities should take steps to recognize Domestic Violence as a public health issue. A
crisis support cell needs to be established in all major Government and Private Hospitals with
a trained medical social worker for provide appropriate services. Training programmes must
be organized for health professionals in order to develop their skills to provide basic support
for abused people. Documentation on the prevalence and the health consequences of
domestic violence should be undertaken by the concerned government departments, health
care institutions, NGOs and counselling centres. A nodal agency should also be set up for the
annual consolidation of the documented work and publish the same for wider publicity
among the masses for increasing awareness.

Page | 14
CONCLUSION:

Having looked at a sensitive topic of “Domestic Violence in India”, we can sense the
importance of discussion of such a topic. The varying causes which can spark the violence
within the four walls of homes need to be analysed carefully and a wise study of the factors
causing the violence may prevent a family to suffer from the meance of domestic violence.
The domestic violence may have a far wider and deeper impact in real life than what has been
covered in this essay. What is required is to see closely the association of the factors
provoking a particular form of domestic violence and to control it. If these factors can be
controlled then more than one form of violence can be prevented from harming an individual
or our society and India would be a much better place to live in.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

Domestic violence becomes a major crime in our country, which hadn’t be yet taken to the
lights in the society. It has to be reduced or totally stopped before it happens in each and
every families.

My opinion is that the laws are mainly in support in female sand not the domestic violence
against men is not even taken into consideration. I am not saying that all the laws are in
support of women, but certain are. Nowadays, women in the name of equality do all the
things which men do, even it is wrong. In India, it is not considered as a crime if the wives
torture their husbands physically and mentally and there is no specific law for it. Without any
solution for the problems in their families and by their wives, many husbands had committed
suicide, without any other choices and leaving his children alone. The Indian laws were in
support of women in many issues like domestic violence, which made the women to think
that they have more rights and respect than men and many fraud complaints were filed by the
wives against their husbands for their personal problems.

According to section 497 of IPC, the female who performs adultery will not be considered as
a abettor and not punished but the male who committed adultery will be punishable with

Page | 15
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend upto five years, or with fine,
or with both. This is a perfect example that laws are in favour of women.

According to 304(B) of IPC, Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily
injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her
marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or
harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any
demand for dowry, such death shall be called "dowry death", and such husband or relative
shall be deemed to have caused her death.Men were arrested wrongly under the provision of
dowry dead.

In many cases, husbands cannot talk against their wives as they were afraid that they would
file a complaint against them. The police also, without complete enquiry arrest their husband.
Thus my personal opinion is that certain laws must be changed in favour of both sex.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 Yogana, monthly magazine, article about domestic violence act,2005.

 Panda, P. and Agarwal, B. 2005. Marital Violence, Human Development and
Women’s Property Status in India. World Development.
 Martin L. S. 1999, Domestic Violence in Northern India. Page No: 417-426
 Article by Ankur Kumar on domestic violence in India, Posted on February 7,
2010 in Editor's Picks, Society

WEBSITES REFERRED:

 http://www.legalindia.com/dhawesh_pahuja_article_about_domestic_violence

Page | 16
 http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/domestic-violence-against-
women-causes-and-cure-1709-1.html
 http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue120/domestic.htm
 http://www.domesticviolence.in/category/domestic-violence-statistics
 http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/02/domestic-violence-in-india-causes-
consequences-and-remedies
 http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/dmt.htm

Page | 17