The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 was enacted with the main object to provide for more effective protection of the rights of women who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family. An Aggrieved Person is defined under the Act to mean 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. The primary requirement for this law to apply is the existence of a 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. Domestic violence is broadly defined to include various forms of abuse including physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse and economic abuse.
It is interesting to note that this law is not only applicable to married women but also to women in live-in-relationships, relationships arising out of consanguinity i.e., descended from a common ancestor, adoption or family members living together as a joint family. Further, this law is applicable to every woman in India irrespective of her religious affiliation i.e., irrespective of whether she is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian etc.
This legislation makes provision for residence orders which means an aggrieved woman may obtain an Order from the Court directing her husband or any of his relatives like the in-laws not to disturb the possession of the aggrieved woman from her matrimonial house or to direct her husband to secure same level of alternate accommodation or to pay rent for the same etc. Section 17 of the Act grants every woman in a domestic relationship the right to reside in a shared household. Section 19 deals with residence orders which are remedies available to a woman who is evicted or is facing the threat of being evicted from her matrimonial house.
Some of the illustrations / situations where the remedy of residence orders can be resorted to are as follows:
1. There may arise a situation where immediately after marriage, the wife actually resided in the shared household while her husband proceeded overseas / abroad. When such a woman is subjected to domestic violence from her in-laws, she cannot be evicted from the shared household except in accordance with the procedure established by law.
2. If a woman gets married then she acquires the right to reside in the household of her husband, which then becomes a shared household within the meaning of the DV Act. Even in a case where the woman in a domestic relationship is residing elsewhere on account of professional or job commitments she has a right to reside in the shared household. She has the right to reside not only in the house of her husband but also in a shared household in which the family of her husband resides.
Conclusion: The right of a woman to reside in a shared household is of unique importance. In India, most women are not educated nor are they earning; neither do they have financial independence so as to live singly; She may be dependent for residence in a domestic relationship not only for emotional support but for the aforesaid reasons. A majority of women in India do not have independent income or financial capacity and are totally dependent vis-à-vis their residence on their male relations who have a domestic relationship with her.
In conclusion, any married woman who is evicted or facing the threat of being evicted from her matrimonial house can file for residence orders under the DV Act. As already stated, this remedy extends to relationships in the nature of marriage also like live-in-relationships, other relationships like descended from a common ancestor, adoption etc.
Comments