Definition Of Domestic violence
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 will get legal remedies under the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Domestic incident report means a report made in the prescribed form on receipt of a complaint of domestic violence from an aggrieved person. According to the act, “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.
What is the Domestic Violence Act, 2005?
The Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005 provides protection from the ‘domestic violence’. The Act ensures the protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and formatters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The act includes all aspects of violence within the family. The Act throws light on every form of violence be it physical or mental.
Here are some forms of ‘Domestic Violence’-
Physical abuse: It covers 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.
Sexual abuse: It throws light on any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of woman.
Verbal and emotional abuse: This kind of violence includes insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule specially with regard to not having a child or a male child; and repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved person is interested.
Economic abuse: This categorycovers 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.
Penalty under Domestic Violence Act, 2005
A breach of protection order, or of an interim protection order, by the respondent, shall be an offence under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to twenty thousand rupees, or with both.
The offence under sub-section (1) shall as far as practicable be tried by the Magistrate who had passed the order, the breach of which has been alleged to have been caused by the accused. While framing charges under sub-section (1), the Magistrate may also frame charges under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or any other provision of that Code or the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961), as the case may be, if the facts disclose the commission of an offence under those provisions.