My daughter,has a 4 month old baby boy. After the birth of her child, her husband's behavior changed a
nd he occasionally started physical
abusing her in addition to verbal abuse.
Finally, we had to bring her to her parent's house. She is quite shaken up and unable to decide what to do next.
Pending her decision, we have decided to wait for any legal action. However, we want to protect the infant from being kidnapped by the father.
What precaution we need to take, for infant's protection.
Nitin
Good evening,
We are sorry to hear your troubles, and we pray for everything to get better soon.
Domestic violence is considered as a criminal offence under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the law goes like this- "Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty.—Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. For the purpose of this section, “cruelty” means—
(a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or
(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand."
This simply means that any abuse, be it verbal, mental, physical, economic or any other kind of abuse by the husband, or relatives of husband, will be punishable for upto three(3) years of imprisonment, and also shall be fined, under the Court's discretion.
You can approach the Court with your case under Section 498A of IPC. There must be some acts that has caused the victim to be very shaken, and leave her out of her normal and natural state of mind.
If the offender has been successfully convicted of the criminal offense of abuse, then the victim will be compensated. The Court will decide if there will be a criminal compensation, based on the financial circumstances.
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Section 21 allows the Magistrate to pass orders regarding the custody of the child/children of the aggrieved. The Magistrate can refuse the visitation rights of the offender, provided that if such a person visited the children it will cause harm to them. This section allows the Magistrate to grant the aggrieved person temporary custody of the child/children.
You can always seek out legal advice from knowledgeable lawyers in this field. It is also suggested to visit a doctor/therapist in order to stay healthy, both mind and body.
We sincerely hope everything gets better soon!
Regards,
Nandini.
