As women are becoming more aware about their rights, Bangalore sees an increase in domestic violence cases; lawyers say not all of them are true.
Bangalore has reported a 44.4 per cent rise in domestic violence cases. Lawyers say that women have become aware about their rights.
Srividya, a practicing advocate in civil court said that courts are overloaded with cases of domestic violence and corruption.
Syed Altaf Ahmed, an advocate and senior legal consultant said, “Domestic violence cases include fights between husband and wife and between wife and the family of the spouse. Wife can file a complaint against husband in instances of cheating, sexual assault, monetary benefits, etc. Women have now become courageous enough to file a complaint against atrocities to the magistrate.”
Vaishali, another advocate said that one major reason that domestic violence cases are rising is because people are forced into marriages by their families and later those individuals are unable to adjust.
Madhu Gowda, practicing journalist turned lawyer said, “If you look 30 to 40 years back, there were absolutely no cases of domestic violence because women were afraid to speak up but now educated women are willing to stand up for their rights.” He added that the current legal system is such that it gives women power to file a complaint against their husbands but there are very few options available for men to fight for any injustice. He said that most of these domestic violence cases are not genuine and are basically to extract money or to defame a person.
Shekhar H.T., Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division said, “ It is difficult to find out the authenticity of domestic violence cases but we try to spread awareness among people to file only genuine cases.”
Dr. Shravanti, a psychologist from NIMHANS said, “Women suffering from domestic violence come to me and most of the times they want to sort things out at a personal level instead of going to the court directly. Some of them even want to hide things just for the sake of their family.” She added that more awareness should be created by the police so that women don’t hesitate to file a complaint against any sort of violence.
