Laws for domestic violence sufferers in India

Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that includes the abusive behavior by one partner against another partner in a relationship like marriage, dating, cohabitation or within the family. Domestic violence is also known as domestic abuse, battering, spousal abuse, family violence, dating abuse, and intimate partner violence (IPV). Sometimes, Domestic violence and abuse is not only limited to physical violence. Domestic violence can also mean unlawful imprisonment, endangerment, kidnapping, criminal coercion, harassment, trespassing etc. Domestic abuse occurs across family, society, gender, regardless of age, race, wealth, sexuality and geography. The research shows, that it mainly consists of violence by men against women. However, Children are also affected directly or indirectly.

Cruelty against a married woman by her husband or his relatives is a criminal offence, not a civil wrong. With effect from 1 July 2024, the Indian Penal Code was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. This offence is now governed by Section 85 of the BNS, 2023 (formerly Section 498A IPC), while Section 86 of the BNS defines what amounts to “cruelty”. Section 498A IPC, first inserted in 1983, is the historical predecessor of these provisions. The offence is defined as: “Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.” The offence is cognizable, non-compoundable and non-bailable. Four types of cruelty are dealt with by this law-

• Conduct which is likely to force a woman to suicide.
• Conduct that is likely to cause gravely injured and endangers to the life and health of the other.
• Harassment for forcing the woman or her family to give some property.
• Harassment of woman or her family for not able to fulfill the demands for money or some expensive property.

The punishment is imprisonment for up to three years and a fine. The complaint against cruelty can be lodged by the person herself or by any relative on her behalf. Cruelty is an inhuman behavior and it is an act that causes physical torture or mental sufferings and cause grave injury to the life or endangers to the life. Cruelty may be in the form of physical as well as mental by the act either of the husband or the wife. The forms of “cruelty” identified by the Courts are:

• forcing for perverse sexual conduct,
• Persistent denial of food,
• Causing mental torture by not giving the access to children,
• Continuously locking a person out of the house,
• Physical violence,
• Limited access to home and forcing for not having her normal social life,
• Demoralizing the person with a intention of causing mental pain and suffering,
• Abusing children in front of their mother with the intention of causing mental suffering,

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

While Section 85 of the BNS, 2023 (formerly Section 498A IPC) provides a criminal remedy, the primary civil law that protects victims is the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (the PWDV Act). This Act gives an aggrieved woman a wide range of civil reliefs, which a Magistrate may grant either separately or together:

• Protection orders restraining the respondent from committing or aiding any act of domestic violence, contacting the woman, or entering her place of work.
• Residence orders securing the woman’s right to reside in the shared household and, where necessary, restraining the respondent from dispossessing or disturbing her.
• Monetary relief to meet expenses and losses, including maintenance for the woman and her children.
• Custody orders granting temporary custody of any child to the aggrieved woman.
• Compensation orders for the injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress, caused by the domestic violence.

The Act also covers physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse, and it provides for the appointment of Protection Officers and the recognition of service providers to assist victims in obtaining these reliefs. A breach of a protection order is itself a punishable offence under the Act.