SEXUAL HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS A legal and ... - The ICHRP

provide protection through shelter homes is one of the manners in which all the laws attempt
to halt continued violence. However, whether such infrastructure has been set up is worth
examining. Some countries, such as India and Sri Lanka have possess civil legislation, which
does not make domestic violence a crime but a civil wrong, thereby lowering the evidentiary
standards required for ascertaining fault/ guilt. This is a largely positive aspect, especially in a
country like India, where the criminal justice system is heavily burdened and ineffective in
coping with cases before it in a timely and credible manner. Of the research countries, India
has the only gender-specific legislation. At the time of its making a concern was expressed
that making it gender-neutral would allow for its misuse by males in an otherwise highly
patriarchal society where they possess far greater access to the justice system. It is unclear
yet, how the gender-specific laws of the other research countries have played out and whether
the concerns related to India have played out in any manner.
Dowry related legislation: In some of the research countries, the practice of payments made
by the bride’s family to the groom’s in consideration of the marriage have been the basis of
violence and the practice of “bride burning” where the consideration is not given or is not
considered sufficient. Laws in these countries prohibiting the practice of dowry are
considered important laws related to the prevention of domestic violence.
In India, the Dowry Prohibition Act was passed in 1961 to curb the demanding and giving of
dowry. The practice of dowry is considered particularly discriminatory as it not only
reinforces patriarchal values of male superiority, it also lends itself to a strong son preference
particularly amongst economically weaker sections of society who can seldom meet dowry
demands at the time of marriage of their daughters. The burden, which this social practice
imposes on a family leads to discrimination against the girl child that lasts through her
lifetime in the form of demands before, during and after her marriage. Unmet dowry demands
often result in the physical and mental abuse of the woman in her marital home at the hands
of her husband, his parents and their relatives. 418
The provisions of this law are accordingly complemented and strengthened by the provisions
of the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence
Act to provide a strict legal framework for the protection of women against this practice.
While the provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, prohibit the demanding and giving of
dowry, the provisions of various criminal laws provide specific punishment for cruelty and
harassment by the husband or his relatives and also provide for the presumption, in the case
of the death or suicide of a married woman, of a dowry death.
The law makes the giving and taking of dowry 419 and the abetment of such acts punishable
with a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and a minimum mandatory fine of 15,000
418 The Supreme Court in State of Himachal Pradesh v. Nikku Ram 1995 (6) SCC 219 commented on the
prevalence of the practice as follows: "Dowry, dowry and dowry. This is the painful repetition, which confronts,
and at times haunts many a parents of a girl child in this holy land of ours where in good old days the belief
was…where woman is worshipped, there is abode of God. We have mentioned about dowry thrice, because this
demand is made on three occasions: (I) before marriage, (ii) at the time of marriage and (iii) after the
marriage. Greed being limitless, the demands become insatiable in many cases, followed by torture on the girl,
leading to either suicide in some cases or murder in some."
419 Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act defines dowry as : “Any property or valuable security given or
agreed to be given either directly or indirectly (a) by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage or
(b) by the parents of either party to a marriage or by a other person, to either party to the marriage or
to any other person; at or before or after the marriage as consideration for the marriage of the said
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