11/19/2018 3 Crucial Laws Against Domestic Violence In India: Know Them, Protect Yourself

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3 Crucial Laws Against Domestic Violence In India: Know Them, Protect

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Widespread and rampant violence against women is one of the most pressing problems India struggles with as a society. It is
estimated that around 37 percent of Indian women have experienced either physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

In 2013 alone, there were nearly a hundred and twenty thousand reports of domestic violence against women, according to India’s
National Crime Records Bureau.

Furthermore, a 2015 study conducted by the Planning Commission of India surmised that a whopping 84 percent of women have
been abused in their homes at least once.

However, a majority of these women are far too afraid of social stigma to reveal that they are victims of abuse. This is due to women’s
poor social standing in Indian society, where beating a woman for even the smallest things is seen as a justi ed act.

In turn, this leads to a lack of support, even from close friends, when domestic violence victims seek help in escaping their situation.

Thankfully, the Indian government has already put into place a number of rules and regulations that are designed to protect Indian 
women from domestic violence.

If the following laws are properly enforced, women in India may be able to hope for safer, more peaceful homes within the near
future.

1. The Indian Penal Code Amendment in 1983

A special section, numbered 498-A, that o cially made domestic violence a criminal o ense was added to the Indian Penal Code in
1983. This section of the law speci cally covers cruelty towards married women by their husbands or their husbands’ families.

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11/19/2018 3 Crucial Laws Against Domestic Violence In India: Know Them, Protect Yourself

A helpful clause in this section allows women’s relatives to make the complaint for them. This is extremely bene cial in cases where
the woman is too afraid to speak up for herself, for reasons such as she could get caught by her husband or simply cannot leave the
house.

One kind of cruelty that can be punished is behavior that causes a woman’s death or serious injury, or pushes her to commit suicide.
Another kind is the type of harassment relating to intimidating the woman or her relatives to give up her property.

Under the policy, acts of cruelty include, but are not limited to, the following:

physical abuse;
mental torture through threats to her or her loved ones (such as children);
denying the woman food;
locking her in or out of the house as punishment; and
demanding perverse sexual acts against the woman’s will.

Convicted o enders will be charged with up to three years of prison, as well as a hefty ne.

2. The 2005 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act

Created in 2005 and enacted over a year later, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act is exactly what the title
proclaims.

This is the rst law in India to speci cally acknowledge every woman’s right to be in a home without violence. In fact, it was seen as a
major step forward in securing women’s rights and more e ective protection.

It is a long and comprehensive law that details several important policies and procedures meant to help women.

First, it gives a speci c de nition of domestic violence: actual or threats of physical, mental, emotional, sexual, or verbal abuse, as well
as harassment regarding dowry or property.

Women are given the right to seek protection against such acts, and their relatives can le a complaint for them against husbands
who break the law.

Second, a woman’s right to reside in their “matrimonial household” is clearly recognized. She cannot be evicted from it as she
rightfully shares it with her husband.

If she is evicted, she has the right to seek monetary compensation and safe shelter, as well as free legal and medical aid.

Lastly, both NGOs and divisions of the Indian Government – such as the National Commission for Women – took the initiative to
organize awareness seminars that could be easily attended by women who are a ected by this act, e.g., women in high risk areas.

Violators of this law will either be mandated to compensate the woman nancially, or will be served a restraining order to keep them
away from the complainant.

3. The 2013 Criminal Law Amendment

As a response to the requests made by the Justice Verma Committee, a small commission named after and headed by one of India’s
most highly regarded jurists, a lengthy list of amendments to the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian
Evidence Act were introduced in this 2013 act.

The aim of the amendment was to provide harsher and swifter punishment for those criminals who committed abuse against
women.

Details regarding sexual assault and rape were clari ed and added onto. For instance, “rape” was given a better and more exhaustive
legal de nition, to include non-consensual penetration using non-sexual objects, as well as non-penetrative sexual acts.

Penalties for o enses such as rape, assault, and sexual harassment were increased.

In particular, heavier sentences were declared for rapists, even including the death sentence for particularly disturbing cases, such as
gang rape where the victim was left in a vegetative state after the crime.

New o enses that are punishable by law were introduced by the amendment as well. These include, but are not limited to:

acid attacks (the act of throwing acid upon a woman with the intention of dis guring, maiming, or outright killing her);
stalking;
voyeurism (spying with prurient or indecent interest); and
publicly and forcefully disrobing a woman

However, despite the commission’s recommendations, the amendment failed to address the issue of marital rape. This exception
basically assumes that marriage automatically means the woman will always consent to her husband’s sexual desires.

This ridiculous notion implies that rape cannot happen within a marriage, when in fact it does, and even happens quite frequently to
Indian women.

Crime Against Women Cells

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11/19/2018 3 Crucial Laws Against Domestic Violence In India: Know Them, Protect Yourself

This is an initiative of the Indian government to better help female victims of domestic abuse. In every district’s police station, a Crime
Against Women (CAW) cell was put in place.

Women su ering from domestic violence may approach these specialized help desks for direct assistance from the police, whether to
le an o cial complaint or follow up on one. Each one is headed by an assistant commissioner.

This program begun in 2010, as the Indian government’s answer to steadily growing numbers of abuse that targeted women.

In Summary
While the Indian government has made signi cant e orts in reducing the largely unchecked epidemic of violence against women,
there is still a long way to go.

Merely passing laws meant to protect women from abuse is obviously not enough to achieve success. Even after the 2013
amendment, horri c crimes such as gang rapes continue to happen, and happen publicly.

The numbers have even continued to rise, though this may be because of increased awareness among women, resulting in greater
reporting of domestic violence overall.

A necessary step in moving forward lies in changing the overall mindset of society towards women. There needs to be more
education on how to treat women as equals, instead of as lesser beings that deserve to be punished for the tiniest mistakes.

If the Indian government can combine proper enforcement of their existing laws with thoughtful gender education programs, we
could be looking at a safer and brighter future for Indian women in the next few decades.

About the Author:

Jon works in marketing team at Loch Employment Law – The Employment Law Lawyers (http://www.lochlaw.co.uk/) in the UK. He is fond of
reading, writing & meeting people. In a former life, Jon worked as a content specialist and has good knowledge about employment policies &
law. You can catch up with Jon at Loch Employment Law London o ce for any advice related to employment laws.

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