Help women stand up against domestic violence by Majlis Manch

The sudden imposition of the national lockdown, resulted in scores of victims of domestic violence being “locked in their homes with their perpetrators”. It gave women no time to decide if they wanted to move out or devise a safety plan for themselves. Also, organisations working with victims of domestic violence had no prior opportunity to formulate a strategy for these victims. Some of the immediate initiatives undertaken by Majlis after the lockdown for victims of domestic violence are:
Rapid Safety Assessment:
As soon as the lockdown was imposed, we conducted a rapid safety assessment of the victims that we were already providing social support and legal representation. Victims residing with the perpetrators (eg: husbands) were identified as more vulnerable. The team immediately contacted them to ensure their well-being, counsel them and provide them with information / contacts details in the event of domestic violence.
Support in existing cases:
The Majlis team has been in regular communication with these women as per their requirement and consent. We arranged for phone counselling, provided legal advice and updates, assisted with travel and transportation, emergency shelter, registration of FIR/NC and medical assistance. It is pertinent to note that these women have cases pending in Court and most of them are empowered by an order of the Court (for protection, residence, maintenance, child custody, etc). This provides immense confidence to these women to stand up to the perpetrator and protect themselves. It is also a deterrent to the perpetrator who fears action by the Court.
Majlis Helpline Number:
We started using our office mobile number as a “Helpline Number” for women to reach out to us. We provided this number to all our partner NGOs, CBOs, etc. We circulated the same on several forums and platforms to enable women to reach out to us. We received several queries by e-mail every day. Broadly, the assistance sought by victims on the helpline / by email is as follows:
Emergency assistance due to an ongoing episode of domestic violence
Requirement of urgent shelter
How to obtain permission to travel as they cannot continue to reside with the perpetrator
Assistance with the Police for registration of NC / FIR due to an incident of violence
Legal advice on steps to be taken to file a case against the perpetrator
Anxious about their pending legal proceedings as Courts have not been functioning during the lockdown
Mental Health Support

Neeta – A story of bravery

Neeta used to work as a hair dresser on movie and serial shoots. There she got acquainted with the accused who started pursuing her. Neeta’s mother is visually impaired and her father passed away few years back. The accused worked in the same place as the victim. They got acquainted and he started pursuing the victim for a relationship. During this time, once when the victim went to his house to pick up her medicines, in an inebriated state, he held her down and brutally raped her. As she was scared, she did not talk about this incident to anyone as he promised her that he would marry her one day. During this period, once the brother of the accused also attempted to rape her but she ran away. The accused then convinced her to not file a case against his brother. The accused then started harassing the victim and coerced her into a relationship. He even went to her mother and maligned the victim’s name resulting in victim’s mother throwing her out of the house. The victim now only had the support of the accused. The victim was suffering from typhoid and had no one to support her so she contacted the accused in the hope that as he had promised her of marriage, he would take her to the hospital. To her repeated requests, the accused called her to an isolated area where he was accompanied with a woman who he introduced to the victim as her sister-in-law and an infant. When the victim started talking about her marriage to the accused, the accused violently hit her head with a rock leaving her in a semi-conscious state. After that, he tied her to the motorcycle and dragged her for a kilometre leaving her in a grievously injured state. The victim was found by a police officer who then admitted her to a hospital.After her statement was taken in the hospital, an FIR came to be filed. When Neeta came to our office, she revealed to us about the incidence of sexual assault which she could not report to the police as she was an injured state. A representative of Majlis went to Virar Police Station as the old FIR was registered there to report the incident of rape. But they were met with drastic hostility and insisted that the matter should be reported to the police station in whose jurisdiction the incident of rape had happened. But it was pointed out to the police that it is the duty of the police to file a zero FIR and transfer to the respective police station with jurisdiction of the matter as it is traumatizing for the victim to keep traveling from one police station to another. The FIR was finally filed at midnight. We continue to support Neeta with her medical aid and her vocational training as she has now lost her employment. The accused is arrested. Neeta is much stronger today and does not shy away from approaching the police alone also.

Program Update

1.    On 5th January 2019, Santosh Shinde was invited to speak with Majlis team about the Juvenile Justice Act. He is member of the State Commission for Child Rights and former Child Welfare Committee member. He clarified misconceptions about the same in a lucid manner.
   

   
   


2. Organised monthly meetings with partner organisations working in the area of child sexual abuse like our team and the Childline Foundation had a meeting on 5th March 2019. The agenda was to update case status and discuss strategies. Discussed challenges faced by them with stake holders under POCSO Act and IPC in relation to cases of child sexual abuse.


3. On 18th March 2019, Majlis conducted Police Training on 'Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012' at Thane Rural.The aim was to facilitate capacity-building of officers and constables, appointed as members of the POCSO Special Cells at every police station. The focus of the training was to ensure that participants were acquainted with legal knowledge and best practices to be followed at the time of registration of FIR, recording of victim statement, and investigation. Participants were sensitized to ensure that the comfort, dignity and best interest of the victim is upheld at all times.

Story from the field

This is the story of Anjali a lady in 30's who was a victim of domestic violence.The reminiscence of her case is as follows; She had an abusive husband who claimed himself to be a practicing Brahmin pundit, but had none of the traits. He was so appalling that he used to make her lick his spit. His abuse extended so far as to even beat and rape her in front of the child. Anajli’s husband neither provided for her daily expenses nor their child. He would often threaten to kick them out of the house. When she tried to work and earn some money, he again beat her. Neglect, humiliation, violence and abuse had been a part of Anjali’s everyday life.
Even though the violence kept increasing, Anjali’s spirit was unbroken. She started looking for help and went to multiple NGOs and the police. Through an associate NGO, Anjali came to Majlis in 2014 to claim legal recourse. We filed Anjali’s case under the Domestic Violence Act of 2005 to obtain protection, maintenance and residence reliefs. We advised her to return to the self-owned house with assistance from the associate NGO. We secured protection orders, but by then her husband sold the house to an old man and his son, and threw out her belongings from the rented premise.
Along with the associate NGO, we urged Anjali to return to the self-owned house, where the associate NGO stayed outside the house day and night to ensure her safety.
This was one of the most contested litigation for a poor lady considering as many as 9 cases were there. With the help and support of Majlis she managed to sustain this kind of harsh litigation.
Her husband used every single trick in the book to prolong the litigation and harass Anjali. He even went so far as to modify his contention of abuse from our client which caused injury to his eye making him unable to work. His fabricated medical proof from private medical did not stand in court. The court saw through his fictitious allegation and passed an order in our favor. He went and appealed against this order. During the course of these proceedings he filed Habeus corpus when she sent their son to the village for his well-being. Later in the trial court he did not appear, and on the arguments from our lawyers, the court proceeded and closed his cross to which he again filed an appeal. This was disposed off in our favor in 3 dates again over a period of a month max. This did not end here. He took the matter to HC. We pleaded to the trial court to proceed as he had not secured any stay as per Bombay high court guidelines on DV. The court proceeded and passed final orders on 3 April 2018 giving reliefs in our favor.
The 4 year long battle against her husband’s didn’t end here. He filed an appeal again on the pretext of not getting an opportunity to defend himself. The matter is pending and he recently asked the court for the matter to be referred for mediation just to stall our execution proceedings. He did not press on his stay application for time being as that would mean he has to pay an amount in court to proceed with appeal. He even tried playing the Brahmin ploy and the court clearly stated it did not care if he's a Brahmin, a Hindu, a Muslim or a Dalit and the court stated that mediation will not affect proceedings in any court and we can go ahead with execution process. This was a great thing as usually courts stall proceedings. However this matter will take long. With the help and support of Majlis she managed to sustain this kind of harsh litigation. We also have seen her empowered in the process with a lot more faith and confidence. We don't see those tears any more in her eyes. That's a victory for us.

Attached is a photo from our office