My sister in law is torturing me on very petty issues. I used to ignore her activities because I want peace in my life. She assaulted me on my first karwa chauth when I was 6 month pregnant and she shouted a lot and asked my husband to call my di and jijaji. She was asking because I was weeping in my room for the whole day fast. They didn’t give me anything to drink or eat..there is some pain in my stomach.
My sister in law came to my room and shouted and cursed me. And I was crying the whole night. In the next morning, I admitted to hospital because of miscarriage. She is very influential and my husband does not listen to a single word against her. Being victimised by such violence I have decided to take appropriate legal action against her. Please explain which action I can take against my sister in law?
You should talk to your husband and tell him to take proper action against the sister for her cruel behaviour. Try to settle this issue amicably because taking legal action at the onset will further disintegrate or destroy the matrimonial relationship with your husband.
Give a chance to your husband and let him try to settle this issue. If he fails to cool down the bitter relationship with you and your sister in law then you should initiate legal proceedings against her.
You should file a complaint against your sister in law under section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act for facing physical and mental abuses in the matrimonial home. Before filing of the complaint you should collect some evidence regarding the acts of physical and mental torture.
If the court satisfies from the complaint then it may issue a summon to the accused or seek a report from the protection officer. In the latter situation, the protection officer will visit your matrimonial home (shared household) and prepare a factual report regarding the violence you are facing there.
If the report of the protection officer satisfies the court that you are aggrieved of domestic violence then the court may pass an interim protection order thereby may impose some restrictions on your sister in law. The court can restrict your sister in law to access a portion of the shared household where you are presently living with your husband.
