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Time of India
19-07-2025
- Time of India
Domestic violence: Low rates of conviction flag systemic gaps
Bengaluru: A new study by a city-based women's organisation has revealed alarming gaps in the justice system's handling of domestic violence cases in Bengaluru: Between 2017 and 2022, only 24 out of 2,202 cases filed under IPC Section 498A (cruelty by husband or his relatives) ended in convictions. This translates to a conviction rate of just 1% over five years. The findings are part of a larger research project by the group, Aweksha, that analysed data from sources such as the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), National Family Health Survey (NFHS), National Commission for Women, and Bengaluru's district court records. The study also noted that while criminal cases under 498A are low, nearly 4,990 cases were filed in the city under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, a civil law that provides for protection and relief but doesn't lead to criminal convictions. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru Though the lack of govt data for the last two years limits the study, cases spanning longer periods in Indian courts bring relevance to these numbers. Among those arrested under domestic violence-related sections, the majority were men in the age group of 30-45 years, and more than 95% of the arrested were granted bail. Data from Halasuru police subdivision also revealed that at least one accused was granted anticipatory bail in 72.5% of such offences. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo Despite the high number of chargesheets filed, convicting the violators remains a huge challenge before the district judiciary, as numbers go way below the national average. Despite men's rights organisations across the city accusing women of filing false cases, the numbers show that only 16.6% of cases alleging crimes against women were closed after being deemed false. Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri, chairman of Karnataka Law Commission, said that a provision of law being misused is no ground for demanding that it be scrapped. "Freedom of speech is being misused and abused day in and day out. But the freedom of speech cannot be withdrawn. Similarly, on the ground that the conviction rate is low, Section 498A of the IPC, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, cannot be repealed," he said. "We've tried our best to sort of take a middle path to show the reality of what these laws are — how these laws are being implemented to our best faculties without trying to sound that we are only men against women," said Bindu M Doddahatti, a women's rights activist and co-author of the report.
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- The Hindu
Conviction rates in domestic violence cases abysmally low in Bengaluru, finds report
A report by women's rights organisation Aweksha has found that spousal violence doubled in Karnataka between 2015-16 and 2019-21, and conviction rates in related cases are abysmally low in Bengaluru. 'Despite having a high charge sheeting rate, and low rate of false and mistake of fact/law/civil dispute cases, the conviction rates stood at 2.38% (for IPC 306), 6.45% (for IPC 304B), 1.08% (for IPC 498A), and 0.73% for Dowry Prohibition Act in Bengaluru which is abysmally low when compared to the conviction rate at the all-India level,' reads the report titled 'Law and its Limitations: An empirical study on domestic violence and marital cruelty'. IPC 306 dealt with the offence of abetment of suicide, IPC 304B with dowry death, and IPC 498A with cruelty to a woman by her husband or his relatives, before being replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in 2024. High bail rate in DV-related cases The study, written by Bindu Doddahatti and Pragya Solanki, also sheds light on the high percentage of bail granted to persons arrested under domestic violence-related sections. 'The percentage of arrested persons getting bail is 97.8%, 98.18%, 0.63%, and 98.07% for cases filed under Sections 498A, 306, 304B, and the Dowry Prohibition Act, respectively, in Bengaluru,' it noted. According to the report, data collected from the Halasuru police sub-division showed that anticipatory bail was granted to at least one of the accused in 72.5% of cases filed under domestic violence related sections. Diminishing legal aid In Bengaluru, housewives constituted 51.36% of female suicide victims from 2017 to 2022, notes the study. It also shows that a majority of the persons arrested in the city under domestic violence-related sections during the study period were men in the age group of 30-45. Survivors of domestic violence, however, are opting for civil law more than criminal law, it finds. 'We are told that women are misusing the law, a claim that is not only exaggerated, but also takes away from the fact that far more women are dying in silence than speaking up,' said Donna Fernandes, founder of Aweksha, during the launch of the report. Despite the alarming numbers, the number of legal service clinics and beneficiaries of legal services have declined over the years. 'Mediation centres have a significant number of pending cases (30.82% in 2022). Moreover, only 20.2% of all cases that were disposed of at the mediation centres in Karnataka from 2017 to 2022 were settled,' it notes. The report also highlights that there is no publicly available data on the appointment of dowry prohibition officers in Karnataka. Recommendations Among other recommendations, the report suggests that the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority should maintain detailed data on the services being provided by legal services authorities and outcome of the cases in which advice or aid was taken from LSCs. 'The functioning of LSCs in rural vis-a-vis urban areas is also missing. Moreover, data on the socio-economic locations of beneficiaries, such as rural-urban divide, gender (including data on LGBTQIA+ individuals), caste, class, religion and education levels would be useful for undertaking an inter-sectional analysis in future studies on gender-based violence and the role of KSLSA,' it notes.
