Misuse of Domestic Violence Act- A Study__Aakash

ABSTRACT Domestic violence is one of the crimes against women which hinders the spirit of women Empowerment and lead to their further disadvantageous position in the society. Domestic violence refers to violence against women especially in matrimonial homes. Domestic Violence Act in India is largely in favour of Women and their male counterparts are often harassed through this act. This Research has been an attempt to highlight the loopholes of the Domestic Violence Act 2005 and provide suggestions for the same. Domestic violence surely an evil should be eradicated through a just, unbiased and unprejudiced legislation. Therefore domestic violence is observed as the significant barriers in the empowerment of women, with consequences of women’s health, their health-seeking behaviour and their adoption of small family norm. Domestic violence is more among lower autonomy and women belonging to low socio-economic status. In this paper, Effort has been made to clearly bring out the effects of Domestic Violence Act on Men as well as women. INTRODUCTION While you scream at your woman, there is a man wishing he could whisper softly in her ear. When you humiliate, offend and insult her, there is a man appreciating her beauty, inside and out, reminding her how beautiful she is. While you make a woman cry, there is a man who gathers smiles from her. A woman is indeed a paramount and important part of a family as well as the entire society. Karl Wilhelm Freidrich Schlegel once said, A family can only develop with a loving woman at its centre. It is a matter of compunction when virtuous women are abused, reviled and exploited by irrational advocates of male dominance. Considering the weak and substandard position of women in a family and in society, the Government of India enacted the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 with the rationale of providing more effective protection of rights of women guaranteed by the Constitution to victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Domestic Violence Act was prepared and enacted with the best of intentions but suffers from various erroneous anomalies. A popular Chinese proverb- Even the best needles are not sharp at both ends holds good

here. The first and the most preponderant issue of peccancy of the Act is its absolute favouritism towards women as the Act assumes that only women are victims. As per this law, only a woman can file a complaint against a man. In the western world, the domestic violence laws are gender neutral and provide protection to victims of both sexes. The Indian law defies all logic and is beyond comprehension. Domestic violence that is any act of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, or the threat of such abuse, inflicted against a woman by a person intimately connected to her through marriage, family relation, or acquaintanceship is universal and has its root in the socio-cultural set up of the society. The perpetrators of domestic violence have often been found to be the males and the victims, their sexual partners. Internationally, one in three women have been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in their lifetime by a member of her own family (Heise et al. 1999).

The legislators of this Act would argue that the favouritism of women is based on the exiguous nature of cases involving the persecution of men at the hand of women. However, this argument stands flaccid and feeble when brought up against Article 14 of the Indian Constitution which promises equality before law to every person and guarantees equal protection of laws. The Domestic Violence Act blatantly denies protection to men against any form of domestic abuse and every year over 56,000 married men commit suicide due to verbal, emotional, economic, physical abuse and legal harassment. The Act also violates the universal principles of fair trial. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty but Indian laws against domestic violence presume that the accused is guilty until proven innocent. The Act also transgresses against the spirit of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which states that no person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law, but every year over 100,000 innocent persons are arrested under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code without proper evidence or investigation. Another significant flaw in this law is that it lends itself to such easy misuse as unscrupulous women find it hard to resist the temptation to teach a lesson to their male counterparts by filing frivolous and false

cases. If the wife demands any amount of money from him, for any reason whatsoever, the husband is legally bound to pay that amount, failing which he can be imprisoned. As per the law, she also retains the right to residence which is a very convenient way of getting control of the house regardless of whether she has any legal right to the property. Section 2(f) of the Act which defines domestic relationship has been misused by women regularly for this very purpose (as seen in Sonia Chauhan Raghove vs Sanjive Raghove & Ors and Vijay Verma vs State Nct Of Delhi & Anr. Following are the ways in which The Domestic Violence Act is misused by women:a) If she demands any amount of money from him, for any reason whatsoever, he is legally bound to pay that amount in full, failing which he can be imprisoned. Under the pretext of preventing economic abuse of women, this law legalizes the extortion of money by women. Interestingly, if he asks for money from her, he can be jailed for that as well. Furthermore, he is responsible for paying the rent if the couple resides in a shared rented accommodation. b) As per the law, she retains the right to the residence. This is a very convenient means of getting control of the house regardless of whether she has any legal right on the property. Moreover, if he is booked under DV, he is responsible for paying the rent as well, even though he may not be allowed to live in the house or he might even be in jail. c) If she decides not to cook and wishes to eat out in a restaurant every day, he cannot afford not to oblige, lest he invites the DV provision for “not providing food”, for which he could be jailed. d) If she has an affair and he tries to prevent her from meeting her lover, he could be punished under the DV act, as he is preventing her from meeting someone. e) He can be booked under the DV act if she feels that she has been insulted. Insult is a relative term, which is totally left to her discretion. Interestingly, if she insults and abuses him verbally or even physically, he does not have any legal recourse in this law. These are just some of the ways in which women can exploit men in a legally permitted manner. The fact that the complaint by a woman will be treated, prima facie, as “true and genuine” opens up a whole new realm of possibilities where innocent men will be accused and implicated in false cases, just because they refuse to give in to her unreasonable demands.

The third major flaw in this law is that it provides an all-encompassing definition of domestic violence and some terms (insults, name calling) are extremely subjective. The radical feminists claim that 70% of women in India face domestic violence which comes as no surprise as even an insult is considered domestic violence. Interestingly, they are laconic and rather silent on how many Indian men suffer domestic violence using the same criteria. This law strikes at the very foundation of marriage by promoting intolerance and litigation for petty domestic disputes. It is universally recognized that from time to time differences arise in a marriage and sometimes people, both men and women, behave in hurtful ways towards each other. Most people, though, are able to work them out and lead a more or less happy life with their loved one. However, this law makes it very easy to escalate the domestic problems in daily life to such a level that it eventually leads to a breakdown in marriage. Once a man has been accused of domestic violence for a something relatively minor (insult), while he might have been subjected to the same treatment from her, he will perpetually feel threatened by his partner and that is the beginning of the end. This law will lead to more divorces, broken homes and the children will pay the ultimate price by getting deprived of a pleasant childhood. Domestic violence is more among lower autonomy and women belonging to low socio-economic status Domestic Violence can be stopped by spreading Awareness among the masses by Gathering more information and educate people about the detrimental effects of domestic violence. Educating people is the first step to be taken in this regard. Moreover the implementation of laws is also a major requirement to curb Domestic Violence. It is very important that the law against domestic violence has to be imposed stringently. In order to curb domestic violence among people in homes, individuals can also seek the help of non-government organizations. These organizations will make people aware about the consequences and get justice to the victim. Maximum number of individuals back off when they witness any kind of domestic violence. This happens due to the fear of being harmed or assets being damaged. People mostly turn a blind eye towards it and keep mum about such incidents. In such cases it is very important to organize a meeting and encourage people to come up with the solutions. It is very important for every apartment to have a counsellor who can council the individuals in terms of danger. Doing this will further make people courageous and come forward if they are a victim or if they witness any such incident. The most important alteration that must be made in the Domestic violence Act 2005 is removing its Biasness and Prejudice nature. This will help prevent its misuse by women of her beneficiaries.

There are many ways in which women can exploit men in a legally permissible manner as observed from the state of Domestic Violence Act. Considering and cogitating these mutilations and flaws in this Act, it would be right to conclude that the law in its current form is grossly inadequate to tackle the problem of domestic violence. It imposes a lot of responsibilities and liabilities on men without giving them any rights. Domestic violence is a sombre and grave problem and a neutral and unprejudiced law is needed to protect the victims of domestic violence, irrespective of gender. The perpetrators of domestic violence need to be appropriately punished and dealt with. When an innocent person begins to fear punishment under the provisions of a law, it ceases to be law anymore and takes the shape of state-sponsored terrorism.

DECLARATION This Manuscript has not been previously published anywhere and has not been previously sent for publication. In case of evidence proving otherwise, I shall be held solely liable.