A. Domestic violence
A cursory study of Indian statutes surrounding the rights of women shows that a lot of change have taken place in our relatively young legal system. The constitutional forefathers of India had in their hand the task of making law for a country where people will be free, equal and in peace after years of oppression. They had at their
disposal a country that had been through famine2, economic breakdown3 and bloody revolution4.
At a time when a married man and his wife were considered to be one legal entity – that of the husband – women had a difficult time getting aid in case of the abuse of their rights. For instance, the propouxnders of legal principles in the ancient Hindu system were openly against the notion of allowing women the rights accorded to men5.
India has been a country whose populace followed the patriarchal system of familial life. Women were denied compassion and integrity let alone legal rights. The time-line of out country has witnessed some harrowing traditions that have worked directly against the welfare and development of women. This coupled with the
fact that the State was embarrassed to enter into the private territory of family life adds to the trouble that women had faced6.
In a judgment7, the Delhi High Court held that it was most inappropriate to bring constitutional principles into the private affairs of the home. Insisting that to invoke Articles 14 and 21 against one’s legally wedded spouse
would be akin to placing a bull in a china shop, the sensitive sphere of home was separated from the state-regulated spheres of the law.
This, however, did not discourage the campaign for the protection from violence in homes.
It caught the attention of women’s rights campaigners in India for it made women feel threatened in the one one place where they should feel safe – home.
