Roshni B.. (For justice and dignity) 29 August 2011

Save indian family foundation protests misuse of dv act

Anybody can be a victim of domestic violence - be it children, infants, teenagers or senior citizens. They can become victim at the hands of their own blood relatives. Thousands of senior citizens are implicated under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) in India every year and they have to undergo physical and mental trauma.

The PWDVA has become a dreaded act. People are afraid to get their sons married as they know that even if one complaint is filed under this act they will have to spend rest of their lives defending themselves in the court.

There is absence of any guideline that can help determine the amount of maintenance that the estranged spouse can claim under the PWDVA act. This leads to exorbitant claims and protracted litigation.

Therefore a standardized tabulation can help the applicant, respondent and the judiciary.

Members of NGO 'Save Indian Family Foundation' are fighting for the rights of the husbands and their families. The will be staging a dharna August 28, between 2pm to 4pm at Azad Maidan against the misuse of Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA 2005).

Following is the list of charter of demands for which they seek amendments to the PWDVA.

`Charter of Demands:`

* The PWDV Act must be abolished with immediate effect or alternatively * That, the PWDV Act must be amended to be gender-neutral and also provide grounds so that aggrieved men facing violence can also seek protection * That, the scope of the PWDV Act must be extended beyond the young married women and cover larger segment of aggrieved victims from the society irrespective of their ages & genders. * That a comprehensive clause be introduced in the PWDV Act to protect the rights of respondents, who could be innocent and being framed for malicious reasons. Such innocent respondents must be compensated if a claim put against them is proved as false and any interim maintenance paid to the applicant in the case must be refunded along with penal interest rate of 12% P.A. * That, as of now, the PWDV act and the IPC 494, IPC 497 adopts conflicting stand-points on the issue of live-in-relation and hence we seek that either the terms variously describing "live-in relationship" be struck out and removed from the PWDV Act OR the IPC 494 and IPC 497 be declared un-constitutional and any pending cases under those sections be dismissed forthwith. * That, the trial under the PWDV Act must be made in compliance with the Indian Evidence Act instead of the Criminal Procedure Code, as it is currently implemented. * That the relief provided to the applicant vide the PWDV act must not rely only upon the statements reported by the Protection Officer in the PO Report., Instead, a conclusive determination must be made only after the judicial due diligence by means such as trial is carried out and conducted in fair manner after both parties have had their say and concluded presenting evidences as necessary. * That the magistrates be empowered to order perjury and contempt proceedings against the applicant who in attempt to seek relief under the PWDV Act resorts to making false and/or misleading statements in their allegations of domestic violence, cruelty etc. The applicant deliberately making false allegations must be punished regardless of gender.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Save-Indian-Family-Foundation-protests-misuse-of-Domestic-Violence-Act/articleshow/9781797.cms

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3 Replies

(Guest)

Such type of laws must be ammended by Indian Judiciary System with immediate effect.

As me & mine family too are the victim of such type of similar law's.

Hope same will be ammended in a short duration of time.

Defaulter must be punish after proper verification or when it is proof in the court, Otherwise complainant will be heavily penalised.

Appreciate the effort's of SIFF member's.

Regard's,

Abhinatre Gupt.

(Guest)

I actually take offense to this. I am not saying that torture cannot be from both sides, but the odds are against the women's favour- As someone who is suffering immense mental torture, I have this to say. We leave our family homes and our people and live with the husband's family.

We are suddenly asked to change ourselves completely overnight and if we cannot do something according to the in-laws tastes, we aren't capable of anything. Our mother's teach us everything they know and was taught to them, but all that learning is wasted when we go into a new house among strange people who expect us to unlearn everything and learn their ways.. we do that too... We are treated like outsiders because we are not born in the family. Untill we have children, we remain guests. We are supposed to make everyone feel special , no one bothers to give us one special day...All they do is expect us to telepathically know what they want.

We are expected to adjust and sacrifice(two words I heard the most in my marriage) and not say a word . While anyone comes along and says what they want to and moves on. If anything at all goes wrong , we are conveniently blamed for it. If its not us directly, it must be the bad luck we bring to the family.

We are expected to work to bring in good money and then at the end of the day return home to cook, clean and look after the kids too. And in all thisif we want to take a breath for ourselves we are told that we are kaamchor. No matter what we do we are misunderstood and boycotted.

We are people who end up living alone with a group of strangers who corner us at every opportunity they get. Marriages are now not marriages at all. It is just a way of securing a dumping bag in the form of a wife and a daughter-in-law.

Men have the support of their family, we are left alone in the cold. we are twisted and turned till we become what they want. We lose our identities. Do you really want your daughters to end up this way? After all the effort my father put in educating me and gave me so much love, just for me to end up being a doormat.

And I worked, but after running around at work, I didn't have the strength to run around for the in-laws... a human being has limited energy. No one wanted to share my work load.

I have gone out in the rain in high fever to bring vegetables while my husband watched cricket. I have been severly sick and no one bothered with me.

This still happens. Inspite of all the sweet talk- she's our daughter now, she's a member of our family now....please.... It doesn't matter if it's 2012. If we cannot legally define our affliction, we have to choose the one that is closest to it. These laws help us that way. Ask the person who is going through it.

These laws are made by keeping the majority in mind. Nobody wants to end up alone and nobody wants their marriage to end.

And to those who think this is a matter to joke about...you are not the ones who have to cry alone or contemplate suicide. Just looking at your replies here , would make me not hire people like you for any case.

(Guest)

Roshni...its the same post... I posted it multiple times because I had some trouble with the mouse. I wanted to click on something else, but it clicked on another thing altogether. Anyway. its just technicality. I had written to the forum admin explaining this.

Best you do not jump to conclusions. You and your clique. This isn't college.

Its only common sense that its a technical error. I obviously cannot post the same reply for multiple queries. Unless of course you are familiar with such behaviour yourself.