The prevalence of domestic violence is a scourge and an evil thing in our society. It is about time that we ensure that the issue is addressed squarely and that we are equipped in dealing with it.In India, domestic violence and dowry deaths complement each other. The vast majority of domestic violence cases result in or lead to dowry deaths and therefore prevalent. There may be relatives or friends who during their lifetime have had to deal with domestic violence or have been perpetrators. Nonetheless, domestic violence is often ignored or overlooked without taking any action as the victims are clueless as to who they ought to turn to for lodging their grievances.  The three laws in effect in India that deal with domestic violence issues directly are:·       The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005·       The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and ·       Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.Under The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 which is a civil law womenfolk are protected from the menfolk in the household. This law in addition to protecting married women from their husbands also protects unmarried women who may be living together. This law also protects family members including mothers, grandmothers, and so on. This law permits women to look for protection against domestic violence, to be compensated financially, to exert the right to shared living in their household, and getting maintenance if in case they live apart.The law ensures women aren’t thrown out of their homes and can keep their body and soul together even after being mistreated. It provides protection to women from their perpetrators – under the Act, a Magistrate can pass a decree ensuring the perpetrator neither contacts nor is in close proximity to the abused or the affected party.The Dowry Prohibition Act is a criminal law that punishes both the giver and the taker of dowry. Based on this law, if anyone takes, gives or even so much as demands dowry, then the punishment is imprisonment for 6 months or they could be paying a fine of a maximum of Rs 5,000.Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code is about husband or husband’s relative who may be a woman’s husband inflicting cruelty on her. Cruelty in this context essentially means any behavior that pushes a woman to the brink of suicide or may cause fatal injury particularly to mental health – including harassment in the pretext of dowry. If indicted, a jail term of 3 years looms large. Click here to connect to Vidhikarya’s registered expert criminal lawyers for further legal advice in this regard.

Rights and Fundamental RightsIts oft-heard that both radicals and the layman alike are dueling for their human rights. The question though is what rights are we talking about here and did we get these rights from anyone? Fundamentally, why is it that people have to be on a tussle all the time for their human rights? Read on to find answers to these burning questions. Introduction to Human Rights and Fundamental RightsThe Indian Constitution has entire sections on The Rights and Fundamental Rights that guarantee people that their rights would be protected. These Fundamental Rights are regarded as the basic human rights of Indian citizens, notwithstanding their gender, caste, religion, creed, so on and so forth. These sections are the vital elements of the constitution which were developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Indian Constitution.The six fundamental rights in India are Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights, and Right to Constitutional Remedies.1. Right to EqualityRight to Equality ensures that all citizens get equal rights. Inequality on the basis of caste, religion, place of birth, race, or gender is prohibited on the basis of the Right to Equality. It ensures equal opportunity in case of government jobs preventing the State from being discriminatory against anyone in regards to employment matters solely based on religious and racial grounds as well as on caste, sex, descent, birthplace, and domicile. 2. Right to FreedomThe right to freedom includes a wide array of rights including freedom of speech, expression, unarmed assembly, movement within national boundaries, association, practicing any profession, taking up residence in any part of India. These rights, however, have restrictions of their own.3. Right against ExploitationHuman trafficking, child labor, offensive forced labor inviting legally validated punishment, and also an act that compels a person to do unpaid work when the person did not have any sort of legal entitlement to do the work or get paid for it are all instances of exploitation that are condemned by the Right against Exploitation. The only exception is if there is any benefit to the public such as NGO work or community services. 4. Right to Freedom of ReligionThe right to Freedom of Religion ensures religious freedom and secular states in India. According to the Constitution, the States ought to view all religions equally in an unbiased manner and that none of the states has an official religion. It also ensures that people have the freedom of conscience and the freedom of preaching, practicing and propagating any religion that they may choose to.5. Cultural and Educational RightsCultural and Educational Rights safeguards the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic minorities by facilitating conservation of their culture and safeguarding them against discriminatory practices. Educational rights assure education for one and all regardless of their caste, gender, religion, and so on. 6. Right to Constitutional RemediesIf citizens' fundamental rights have been violated then they can appeal to the Supreme Court of India for enforcement or seek protection if their fundamental rights have been violated or infringed upon. It's within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to ensure that the Fundamental Rights are enforced even if that means implicating private bodies. Awarding compensation to the affected individual in case of any violation is the norm. ?Click here to connect to Vidhikarya’s registered expert human rights lawyers for further legal advice in this regard.