Domestic Violence Act Fails Expectations

By Dr Rina Mukherji on Monday, May 24, 2010 - 16:39

The Act, on paper, offers much succor and help to women tormented in their own households. But when it comes to implementation, there is not enough infrastructure to support the processes and complaints take up to two years to be settled, finds Rina Mukherji

Violence – physical and psychological – has for long been an inherent part of the Indian domestic set-up. The moment a girl gets married, her entire life is circumscribed as per the rules of her matrimonial household. She cannot voice her own opinions, cannot pursue her career, and never determine her choices. She becomes no better than a piece of furniture, mute and helpless, as others decide on how, where and what she should do.

Domestic violence has generally been taken to refer to physical violence. However there are other forms of violence, which may ultimately end up in physical violence. Stifling a person’s ambitions is as bad as inflicting bodily harm. Inadequate dowry, homely looks or the absence of a male child are often excuses to deny a woman food, or access to the shared household. Physical violence may also be resorted to, when a woman threatens to make all public.

The enactment of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, should hence, be considered a revolutionary piece of legislation.. For the first time, domestic violence was clearly defined as both mental and physical violence, with ‘verbal and emotional abuse’ further elaborated to include

• insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults,
   
• repeated threats to cause physical pain,

Under the Act, economic abuse was defined as including

• deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources to which an aggrieved person is entitled to; and
• prohibition or restriction to continued access to resources or facilities to which the aggrieved person is entitled to use or enjoy by virtue of the domestic relationship including access to the shared household.
   

The Act made provision for monetary reliefs for expenses incurred, losses suffered, medical expenses, compensation and maintenance for the victim and her children. The custody of the children was granted to the aggrieved person during the pendency of the application, during which time the respondent could be denied visitation rights if such visits were deemed harmful to the child/ren. The Act provided for Protection Officers (all women) who would prepare a report on any incident of domestic violence once a complaint was made, serve the necessary summons, ensure compliance of orders given by the court, and arrange for medical treatment for the victim if need be. Protection Officers were also to appoint counselors to counsel the parties, ensure legal aid was available to victims free of cost and maintain a list of Service Providers in the form of non-governmental organisations that would provide safe shelter homes. This emboldened many silent sufferers to take recourse to the Act.

However, the Act so far has belied the hopes it had raised.. Most significantly, the enactment of the legislation has not been accompanied by putting into place the necessary infrastructure for its implementation.
The Domestic Violence Act had scored high in providing that cases filed under it would be decided within 60 days. This is not being complied with anywhere. Even when cases are decided quickly enough, there is no time limit fixed on the appeals, as senior advocate Sheela Ramanathan points out. “The time limit for filing appeals is 30 days. However, although the Act contains time requirements for disposing cases, it is silent on the time limit for disposing appeals.” This makes a farce of the law.

The Act envisages an important role for Protection Officers. But in almost every state, including Delhi, Protection Officers are contractual appointees who lack the basic facilities to function smoothly. In West Bengal, they have not been provided telephones or vehicles. They must use public transport to dispense their duties. In Karnataka, it is a similar situation. Commuting within cities is not a major problem, but when summons have to be served in rural areas, the protection officers have a hard time. Besides, there are no helpers or subordinate staff to assist them. Thus, when she must attend court, there is no one to attend to a victim’s complaint at her office. “The Protection Officer is supposed to table a report within three days of a complaint of domestic violence being made. But given the fact that she must function single-handedly minus transport, she cannot table a report in less than a month,” points out Delhi-based advocate Agnes Kumir. “With a salary of around Rs 4,000-5,000, she can hardly manage to make the many trips needed to serve summons, visit families and ensure orders are complied with . Consequently, each case takes an average of two years to be disposed of.”

In Karnataka, there have been no separate appointees to function as Protection Officers. Child Protection Officers operating under the Department of Social Welfare have been given the additional responsibility of functioning as Protection Officers. The lack of full-time Protection Officers further slows down the process of justice.

In Delhi, there have been several instances of Protection Officers being assaulted when they have tried serving summons, or visited homes to prepare their reports. Although the last few months have seen courts and the police stepping in to provide “protection” to protection officers, it is a sad situation. Although Delhi has woman-judge headed mahila courts and 17 protection officers, the attitude of its police leaves much to be desired. Complaints of domestic violence are hardly ever registered, and the victim is either referred to the Crimes Against Women Cell or asked to contact a Protection Officer. But no police station ever displays the telephone numbers of Protection Officers, or gives directions to the respective offices..

Obtaining maintenance is also extremely difficult. Maintenance is often paid only during the pendency of the case. "Husbands stop paying the maintenance once the case is disposed off. Since separate execution proceedings have to be initiated to recover maintenance arrears, the already-distressed victim soon loses interest in pursuing the matter and the respondent goes scot-free,” legal activist Madhupurna Ghosh says. Besides, there are no funds allocated for service providers. Consequently, for a victim with no place to go, there is hardly any shelter home available.

Legal activists are hence demanding better coordination among government departments, better funds and infrastructure, and full-time appointment of dedicated, well-equipped protection officers to ensure quick relief to victims. Meeting these demands will indeed do justice to many long-suffering women.

Rina Mukherji is a senior Kolkata-based journalist with nearly 25 years of experience in the print and online media Her long career in the media has seen her cover a wide variety of subjects ranging from gender issues, business, politics, the environment and the arts . She also hold a doctorate in African Studies, and has several academic articles to her credit.