Domestic Violence Act should protect mothers-in-law too, says Maneka Gandhi

Implying that the current provisions in the Domestic Violence Act were not enough, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi sought an amendment to the Domestic Violence Act to provide protection to women who face abuse from their sons and daughters-in-law also. [caption id=“attachment_1630583” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Maneka Gandhi said Domestic Violence Act should protect mothers-in-law also. AFP[/caption] “Many cases have been brought to the notice of the minister where elderly women have been misbehaved with or even tortured by their sons and daughters-in-law for property or other reasons. Even when the case is genuine, no action can be taken against the daughters-in-law under the law. The minister feels that the law should protect all women, regardless of their relationship with the oppressor. We are exploring legal options and will move an amendment soon,” said a source close to Maneka Gandhi in a report in The Financial Express. The current Act does not allow women to be charged under the law. It is only meant to protect women from violence by any man with whom they live 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." The report also said that legal experts have opposed Maneka’s move, saying that this would result in a series of counter-cases to fob off genuine complaints of abuse made by women. Earlier, Maneka had also proposed that juveniles who commit rape should be tried as adults. She had said that according to the police, 50 percent of all sexual crimes were committed by “16-year-olds who know the Juvenile Justice Act so they can do it.” “But now for premeditated murder, rape, if we bring them into the purview of the adult world, then it will scare them,” she said. (With additional input from PTI)