THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
A Kerala court has cleared a man accused of domestic violence by his
estranged wife after it found that the allegations were a cover-up for
the latterβ's extramarital affairs.
The court ruled that
insurance company executive Honey had levelled the allegations of
domestic violence against her husband Shelly after he chanced upon her
illicit relationship with her boss.
Kochi additional chief
judicial magistrate Cherian K Kuriakose refused to admit the case under
the strict Domestic Violence Act that came into force a year ago.
The
landmark domestic abuse law allows courts to punish husbands who beat,
threaten or even shout at their wives or live-in partners with jail of
up to a year and a fine of Rs20,000.
Honey wanted to book her
partially-disabled husband under the law for physically abusing her and
refusing to send her to her parental home.
Honey alleged she was insulted in public and her relatives not invited to a family function.
Honey
also claimed that the villa and the car in her husband's possession
were bought from her own income and that Shelly spent nothing.
Honey claimed her husband forced her to leave the house, continued to make abusive calls and spread derogatory stories.
She
accused Shelly of withdrawing from a joint decision for divorce and
alleged he wanted her to give up claims to the villa besides custody of
their child.
However, the court concluded that Honey had made the allegations after Shelly came across messages from her boss.
A
few of the messages extracted show that there was clear illicit
relationship between Harikrishnan and the petitioner.The evidence
discloses that this is not a case of violence against a woman but a
clear case of violence against a man in the domestic relationship, for
which there is no penalty, the court observed.
Quoting
from the messages sent and received by Honey, the court observed that
she filed the petition only to counter any criminal proceedings against
her and her male friend.
The court observed that it was
unfortunate that the Domestic Violence Act has not provided βany
punishments to such intruders who mar the peaceful family life of the
innocent.
The rules prevent husbands from harassing their
wives for dowry payments and allow women to complain directly to judges
instead of the police.
When a woman files a complaint the onus is on the man to prove his innocence.
It also ensures the woman's right to stay in the family home, regardless of whether or not she has any title in the household.
There
has been criticism against the Act, which came into effect on October
26, 2006, saying it was open to manipulation as it allows for a broad
definition of what constitutes abuse.
Besides
physical and sexual violence, verbal and emotional abuse, such as
insults or name-calling, and preventing wives from taking up a job or
forcing them to leave are also covered by the law.
The Act also covers sisters, mothers, mothers-in-law or any other female relation living with the man.
