Domestic violence

Dear Madam,
This is a difficult and distressing situation. You can file a complaint with the police under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. This Act offers protection to women against all forms of domestic violence, including physical, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse. Since your husband is a government employee, any legal action against him could also have departmental consequences, which may encourage him to change his behavior.

Dear Client,
In the given scenario, you have the following options that you can consider to resolve the crisis legally and effectively. 1) You can file a complaint against your errant and abusive husband who subjected you to domestic violence at the local police station under Sec.12 of the PWDV Act, 2005. Under Section 12(1) of the DV Act, an aggrieved person or a Protection Officer or any other person on behalf of the aggrieved person may present an application directly to the Judicial Magistrate seeking one or more reliefs under this Act that include the right to reside in the shared household, prohibitory order, maintenance order and residence order. 2) You may consider judicial separation or divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty to resolve the matter permanently. Either spouse can obtain a decree of divorce if one spouse has treated the other with cruelty. Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, allows either spouse to seek divorce on the grounds of cruelty. If there is no possibility and no scope of mutual consent divorce, you can file a one-sided/contested divorce petition before the Family Court/District Court where the couple last lived together, such as their marital home, where the marriage was solemnized, or where the wife currently resides praying for a decree of divorce and seeking maintenance or alimony from the husband. The party seeking divorce can submit audio, video, or written evidence to prove his or her claim. As regards payment of maintenance/alimony post-divorce, be informed that both under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and under Section 125 Cr. PC(Section 144 of BNSS), any person having sufficient means is liable to support his wife and children, provided that she is unable to maintain herself and her children. Certain guidelines had been set down by the Supreme Court in its judgment in the case of Rajnesh v. Neha (2021(2) SCC 324). Said criteria include the parties’ status, the respondent Wife needs, the respondent’s income and property, the claimant’s liabilities and financial responsibilities, the parties’ age and employment status, the parties’ residential arrangements, the parties' minor children’s maintenance, and illness or disability, etc. Maintenance is not restricted to the husband's income alone. The courts have held that the husband's income, as well as his assets and properties, can be taken into consideration while determining the maintenance amount. The courts have also held that maintenance can be granted to the wife even if she is living separately from her husband due to his ill-treatment or other reasons. If maintenance is paid monthly, the Supreme Court of India has established a benchmark value of 25% of the husband's net monthly earnings to be awarded to the wife. 3) Last but not the least, since your husband is a government employee, you can share your ordeals in writing with the concerned Govt. Authority along with the suppoting documents seeking appropriate action under the governing service rules. A government employee can face disciplinary proceedings from the concerned Authority in addition to any civil or criminal action, once a complaint is received by the concerned Department/Authority from the aggrieved family of the employee. A contested divorce is more expensive and time-consuming than a mutual consent divorce. However, grounds for one-sided/contested divorce reflect the various challenges and complexities that may arise in the course of divorce proceedings. It is always recommended to consult an expert divorce lawyer to get the right legal advice before filing a contested divorce petition. If you are not financially sound enough to continue with litigation expenses, you can apply to the Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, or the District. Legal Services Authority seeking free legal services available to women under Section 12(c) of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 to contest the cases in the Court for appropriate relief. Hope it may help.