Kerala High Court upheld a widow’s right to stay in her husband’s home under the Domestic Violence Act. The court ruled that in-laws attempting eviction commit domestic violence.
Kochi: Today, on June 06, in an important judgment, the Kerala High Court has ruled that a woman cannot be thrown out of her matrimonial home even if her husband has passed away.
The court passed this decision while hearing a case where a 41-year-old woman accused her in-laws of trying to evict her and her children from the house she had shared with her late husband.
ALSO READ : “Domestic Violence & Section 498A IPC are the Most Abused Provisions”: Supreme Court
The woman had first approached the Sessions Court in Palakkad under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (DV Act), seeking protection from being thrown out of the house.
The Sessions Court ruled in her favour and reversed an earlier order given by the Magistrate Court which had dismissed her complaint. Later, her in-laws went to the Kerala High Court and challenged the Sessions Court’s ruling.
However, the High Court refused to accept their arguments and dismissed their appeal.
Justice M.B. Snehalatha clearly stated that according to Section 17 of the Domestic Violence Act,
“every woman in a domestic relationship has the right to reside in the shared household whether or not she has any right, title or beneficial interest in the same.”
The in-laws argued that the woman owned another house and that she had not stayed in the matrimonial house after her husband’s death.
They also claimed that since the husband was no longer alive, there was no longer a domestic relationship between the woman and them, and so the Domestic Violence Act would not apply in this case.
ALSO READ: 498A (Cruelty Law) Being Misused For Personal Vendetta Against Husband: Supreme Court
But the court rejected these claims, stating that the evidence clearly showed the in-laws were trying to illegally evict the woman and her children, which counted as an act of domestic violence.
The court said that the woman still had the right to live in her shared household, which is the home she lived in with her husband.
The court agreed with the Sessions Court’s order that gave protection to the woman under the Domestic Violence Act.
The Kerala High Court strongly supported the purpose of the law, calling the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 a
“beneficial and protective piece of legislation to protect women from violence in domestic relationships.” It also highlighted that this law helps prevent unlawful acts by relatives against women, especially after the husband’s death, when they are most vulnerable.
ALSO READ: Women, Domestic Violence, And Misuse: Dangerous Narratives
Finally, the High Court concluded that:
“The court below rightly found that the attempt of the respondents (the in-laws) to throw out the petitioners (the woman and her children) from the shared household amounts to domestic violence.” The judge made it clear that “the findings entered into by the court below are based on evidence and do not suffer from any illegality.”
Click Here to Read More Reports On Domestic Violence
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
