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    Diluting women's share in marital property in the event of divorce, the government has sought to restrict the provision for `immoveable property' to residential assets, a move opposed by women's rights activists. The marriage amendment bill seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, legislating a women's right to marital property acquired during the subsistence of marriage. The amendment cleared by the Union Cabinet recently said that the women's share will be decided by the courts. However, sources said that a new provision in the bill that describes ``immoveable property''…

  If a wife is accustomed to a particular lifestyle, it is difficult for her to adjust in bad times, the Bombay high court said on Friday while hearing a plea for enhancement of maintenance. A division bench of Justice P B Majmudar and Justice Anoop Mohta was hearing a petition filed by film producer Gaurang Doshi's wife Madhuri challenging the family court's June 16, 2010, order on providing a monthly maintenance of Rs 50,000 each to her and their daughter. She had sought Rs 2 lakh for herself and Rs 75,000 for the daughter, besides accommodation and…

  The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has ruled that proceedings under the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act (PWDV) 2005 should not be merged with petitions under the Hindu Marriage Act. "It is not necessary that in all cases common evidence will be necessary and will be of assistance to the trial court. It is possible that the application under PWDV Act could be decided without reference to the pleadings and evidence in a Hindu Marriage petition," Justice ML Tahaliyani ruled while…

  A Delhi court has termed a draft law proposed last month to raise the age of consent for sex from 16 years to 18 as “regressive and draconian”. The court said in view of changing social attitude and sensibilities, exceptions should be made while deciding the age of consent for sex, as in rural parts of the country marriages are solemnised at an early age. Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau made the observations while referring to the “conditions in western countries” where there are adequate safeguards for protection against sexual offences. Read more...

Only 18 per cent cases registered under dowry death charges end up in conviction, statistics available with the Delhi Police reveal. According to the Delhi Police figures, a dowry death is reported in the city every third day. Of the 681 people arrested under the sections of dowry death in Delhi, only 207 were convicted of the charges and sent to jail. Around four years ago, the Delhi Police had issued a circular that no arrests would be made in cases of dowry harassment without the prior permission of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP). This was done after the…

  Women in West Bengal are apparently not safe under the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress government. The National Commission for Women (NCW), in a report released on Tuesday, stated that the state has “recorded the second highest number of rape case in the country and the rate of increase in reported cases is twice the national average”. Ms Banerjee, who has been screaming herself hoarse against the so-called “terror” during the years of Left Front rule, has also been criticised for “transferring officers who have cracked rapes cases even before investigations were completed”. The report was prepared by…

  Giving relief to a married woman who was threatened with divorce by her husband, the Gujarat High Court ruled that retaliation by wife to acts of harassment does not amount to cruelty and the husband cannot be granted divorce on this ground. The bench of acting Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice JB Pardiwala gave this verdict recently in the case of a city-based couple who are in their late 60s. However, the husband wants to divorce his wife after 30 years of marriage. The bench ruled that even if it is believed that the woman had committed stray…

  Andhra Pradesh recorded over 9,600 cases of domestic violence - the highest in the country - during 2007-2010, the Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday.  Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath told the upper house that a total of 26,808 domestic violence cases were reported across India during the period. State-wise list shows that Andhra Pradesh, with 9,639 cases, reported the highest number of such cases followed by Maharashtra with 5,393 and Tamil Nadu with 3,141. 

  Amendments Proposed by NCW to The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 The National Commission for Women (NCW) has proposed recommendations to amend the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 in 2009. The major recommendations include:-  1. Amendment to definition of dowry.  2. Provision for registration of lists of gifts received at the time of marriage.  3. Provision for separate penalties for giving and taking of dowry.  4. Penalties for non-maintenance of lists of gifts received at the time of the marriage.  5. Insertion of a new clause providing an opportunity to the…

  A high proportion of HIV positive women report domestic violence than HIV negative women, says a latest study by the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. Conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Pune on a randomly selected sample of 150 married women, of which 75 each were HIV positive and negative, the study showed that overall, 33.3 percent of HIV positive married women reported acts of domestic violence inflicted upon them.  Of these, physical violence was reported by 29.3 percent women, emotional violence by 14.7 percent and…