Domestic violence: Low rates of conviction flag systemic gaps | Bengaluru News
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.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.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 But the freedom of speech cannot be withdrawn.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of the IPC, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, cannot be repealed,” he said.“We’ve tried our best to sort of take a middle path to show the reality of what these laws are — how these laws are being implemented to our best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.
