NEW DELHI: Beyond the debate on the merits and the misuse of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, about 10,000 cases have been filed in Indian courts barely within one year of its implementation.
Interestingly, about 8000 applications were filed within ten months and the highest number of cases have been filed by women from Rajasthan (3,440), followed by Kerala (1,028), Andhra Pradesh (731) and Delhi (607) and only 64 applications were made in Bihar, 54 in West Bengal and 12 in Orissa, says an evaluation report of the law prepared by the NGO, Lawyers’ Collective.
While proceedings in most of the cases are still pending at the courts and there has hardly been a conviction so far, the government and women’s groups are celebrating the fact that the law is making an impact and acting as a deterrent for men against any form of abuse.
However, all states except five have appointed protection officers and except for Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, none of the appointments have been made on a full-time basis. Only five states have registered service providers and only 12 have notified medical facilities and shelter homes as required under this law.
“There is reason to be happy as well as sad. The state governments need to do more to implement the Act,” said National Commission for Women chairperson Girija Vyas, adding that pressure has to be exerted on the state governments to ensure adequate number of protection officers (POs), service providers and medical and rehabilitation facilities.
While acknowledging the scope for its misuse, Vyas said that the onus is on the judges to probe the truth in case false cases are being filed. However, on the reports of the misuse of the law, senior police officer Kiran Bedi said: “At the moment we need to focus on the use of the law and not its misuse. There could be misuse of the law in ten per cent of the cases. But right now, it is the use of the law in 90 per cent other cases that is important.”
