As the society is developing, we are observing more cases of domestic violence around our households due to decreasing tolerance levels of our fellow human beings. Our society at large is witnessing a rise in the case of domestic violence and as recorded by the Protection Officers across the multiple districts in India they are true.

Our women folk be a wife or a mother, sister, daughter is suffering and hence the laws under THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005 are made so stringent so that they can be rightly protected.

Domestic violence is any act, omission or commission or conduct of a person which;

(a) harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic abuse; or

(b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security; or

(c) has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to her by any conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or (d) otherwise injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved person.

Whenever a woman is harassed and physically and emotionally abused by her relatives and in-laws in her home then she has the option to get herself protected under the laws as provided by Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. It is not needed that only the wife or the bride (daughter-in-law) gets the protection but any woman, be a mother or daughter can get protection under the law from any kind of abuses afflicted by relatives within the four walls of her home.

Domestic violence abuse can be conducted in many forms and aggrieved party can be afflicted with domestic violence in any of these forms like;

(i) "physical abuse" means any act or conduct which is of such a 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 includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force;

(ii) "sexual abuse" includes any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of woman;

(iii) "verbal and emotional abuse" includes- (a) insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule especially with regard to not having a child or a male child; and (b) repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved person is interested.

(iv) "economic abuse" includes- (a) deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources to which the aggrieved person is entitled under any law or custom whether payable under an order of a court or otherwise or which the aggrieved person requires out of necessity including, but not limited to, household necessities for the aggrieved person and her children, if any, stridhan, property, jointly or separately owned by the aggrieved person, payment of rental related to the shared household and maintenance.

Whenever there a case of a domestic violence the aggrieved woman has to approach, the Protection Officer (PO). Every District has one designated PO who shall take the complaint and register the complaint on behalf of the woman. The PO shall help with following things namely;

i) Arrange for medical aid, if needed

ii) Help in preparing Domestic Incident Report, required to fie a case with Police

iii) Help in filing a case with Magistrate

iv) Help get in touch with Service Providers who would assist the aggrieved person with counselling and legal services etc.

v) Prepare a safety plan to ensure the future safety of the aggrieved person and if required put her in a shelter.

Later the PO will file a case with the Magistrate where the Magistrate can order the following;

1.      Direct the respondent or the aggrieved person, either singly or jointly, to undergo counselling.

2.      Direct that the woman shall not be evicted or excluded from the household or any part of it and should be allowed to stay there.

3.      Issue Protection order, providing protection to the woman.

4.      Grant monetary relief to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person and any child of the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic violence.

5.      Grant custody orders, i.e., temporary custody of any child or children to the aggrieved person.

6.      Grant compensation/damages for the injuries. Including mental torture and emotional distress caused by the acts of domestic violence committed by that respondent.

7.      Breach of any order of the Magistrate is an offence which is punishable under the law for which the respondent can be imprisoned.

Since this is a part of social justice program hence there is no fee required to be paid when an aggrieved person approaches the Protection Officer and the process starts for her. But yes, if you hire a private lawyer to seek guidance during the whole process for then you will have to bear the cost of consultancy charges for that lawyer. Apart from that you do not have to bear any cost in case of Domestic Violence case.

Domestic violence cases do give rise to more ancillary cases like Restitution of Conjugal rights cases under Section 9 of Hindu Marriage Act, Divorce and Child custody cases, Cases filed under Section 498A of IPC and under the provisions of Prohibition of Dowry Act. All these cases can be initiated by the aggrieved woman against the husband and the relatives of the husband.

The main law is provisioned under the Act called THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005 which contains all the Sections and laws about what to do when a woman is subjected to domestic violence by her own people inside the house where she is residing.

Section 3 . Definition of domestic violence.

For the purposes of this Act, any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic violence in case it –

(a) harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic abuse; or

(b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security; or

(c) has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to her by any conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or

(d) otherwise injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved person.

Explanation I.-For the purposes of this section,-

(i) "physical abuse" means any act or conduct which is of such a 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 includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force;

(ii) "sexual abuse" includes any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of woman;

(iii) "verbal and emotional abuse" includes-

(a) insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule specially with regard to not having a child or a male child; and

(b) repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved person is interested.

(iv) "economic abuse" includes-

(a) deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources to which the aggrieved person is entitled under any law or custom whether payable under an order of a court or otherwise or which the aggrieved person requires out of necessity including, but not limited to, household necessities for the aggrieved person and her children, if any, stridhan, property, jointly or separately owned by the aggrieved person, payment of rental related to the shared household and maintenance;

(b) disposal of household effects, any alienation of assets whether movable or immovable, valuables, shares, securities, bonds and the like or other property in which the aggrieved person has an interest or is entitled to use by virtue of the domestic relationship or which may be reasonably required by the aggrieved person or her children or her stridhan or any other property jointly or separately held by the aggrieved person; and

(c) prohibition or restriction to continued access to resources or facilities which the aggrieved person is entitled to use or enjoy by virtue of the domestic relationship including access to the shared household.

Explanation II.-For the purpose of determining whether any act, omission, commission or conduct of the respondent constitutes "domestic violence" under this section, the overall facts and circumstances of the case shall be taken into consideration.

Under Section 4 of the Act one can inform the Protection Officer about the Incident:

4. Information to Protection Officer and exclusion of liability of informant. -(1) Any person who has reason to believe that an act of domestic violence has been, or is being, or is likely to be committed, may give information about it to the concerned Protection Officer. (2) No liability, civil or criminal, shall be incurred by any person for giving in good faith of information for the purpose of sub-section (1)

One can apply to Magistrate with the help of PO to get the relief in case of Domestic Violence:

12. Application to Magistrate. -(1) An aggrieved person or a Protection Officer or any other person on behalf of the aggrieved person may present an application to the Magistrate seeking one or more reliefs under this Act: Provided that before passing any order on such application, the Magistrate shall take into consideration any domestic incident report received by him from the Protection Officer or the service provider.

(2) The relief sought for under sub-section (1) may include a relief for issuance of an order for payment of compensation or damages without prejudice to the right of such person to institute a suit for compensation or damages for the injuries caused by the acts of domestic violence committed by the respondent: Provided that where a decree for any amount as compensation or damages has been passed by any court in favour of the aggrieved person, the amount, if any, paid or payable in pursuance of the order made by the Magistrate under this Act shall be set off against the amount payable under such decree and the decree shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), or any other law for the time being in force, be executable for the balance amount, if any, left after such set off.

(3) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be in such form and contain such particulars as may be prescribed or as nearly as possible thereto.

(4) The Magistrate shall fix the first date of hearing, which shall not ordinarily be beyond three days from the date of receipt of the application by the court.

(5) The Magistrate shall Endeavour to dispose of every application made under sub-section (1) within a period of sixty days from the date of its first hearing.

Whenever you feel the risk of violence at the hands of your relatives or husband you need to first speak to your other friends and near and dear ones who can help you instantly. When things go out of hand then get in touch with a lawyer to discuss the matter to understand the nitty gritty before taking any legal step as once you start going to the PO you may have to take other legal steps too.

In case abuse and threats are quite common then immediately consult a lawyer to take the necessary steps.

·         What is domestic relationship?

Domestic relationship means a relationship between two persons who live or have, at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are related by consanguinity, marriage, or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family.

·         Who is an aggrieved person?

It means any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the   respondent and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent.

·         Can a man register a complain for domestic violence when he is being abused by his relatives in his home?

No, the law is specifically made to safeguard the women and is for the safety of women hence men cannot be covered under this law but yes in case on any incidence they can report it to the Police directly and seek relief.

·         Is there any provision of maintenance under the Domestic Violence Act?

Yes, there is a provision of maintenance under this Act and especially under the Section 20 while passing order the Magistrate can pass an order for monetary relief and maintenance.

·         Who is covered under the Act?

The Act covers all women who may be mother, sister, wife, widow or partners living in a shared household. The relationship may be in nature of marriage or adoption. In addition, relationships with family members living together as a joint family are also included.

·         Who can file a Complaint?

Any woman who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the offender or any person may file a complaint on her behalf.

Surekha Mote vs. State of Maharashtra High Court of Bombay

Held that "we have considered section 12 of the PWDV Act and the proviso to section 12. This does not mean that if no protection officers are appointed. The Magistrate ceases to have jurisdiction. That would frustrate the object of the act " this means that complaint can be entertained directly by the magistrate even if there is no protection officer

D. Veluswamy v. D. Patchaiammal

Women in Live-in relationship protected under the Domestic Violence Act.

Lalita Toppo v. State of Jharkhand & anr.

Estranged Wife or Live-in-Partner can Claim Maintenance u/Domestic Violence Act- Supreme Court

https://www.vidhikarya.com/legal-blog/Interim-Maintenance-under-the-Domestic-Violence-Act

https://www.vidhikarya.com/legal-blog/domestic-violence-in-india-and-the-legal-provisions

https://www.vidhikarya.com/legal-blog/Domestic-Violence-and-Women-Rights

https://www.vidhikarya.com/legal-blog/A-BRIEF-NOTE-ON-DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE-ACT-THE-RIGHTS-OF-VICTIMS-AND-LIABILITIES-OF-RESPONDENTS-OF