Even after so many years of enactment of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) in the country, no case has so far been registered under this Act in Uttarakhand.
According to the figures provided by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), in the year 2011 for example whereas 391 cases were registered under the DVA in Jharkhand followed by 3,266 cases in Gujarat, 14 in Himachal Pradesh and 39 cases were registered under the same Act in Rajasthan, no case was registered under the same Act during the same period in Uttarakhand, said Shilpi Arora, president of the woman association for training empowerment and resettlement (WATER), a social organisation engaged in woman empowerment in Uttarakhand.
This DVA was enacted by the Indian Government in 2005 to protect women from domestic violence. But no case of domestic violence against women has yet been registered under this DVA in Uttarakhand. Non-registration of cases doesn't mean that there is no case of domestic violence occurred in Uttarakhand during the past so many years. Cases are registered under other laws. But no case has been registered under the DVA so far in the hill State.
That only reflects unawareness about the said DVA resulting in non-registration of cases here in the hill State, Aroa said, stressing on the need to create awareness about said Act in the society. The matter of fact is that non-reporting of cases under the DVA only shows that despite so many atrocities that they face, women don't come forward to report what they have to face, Arora further said.
It is quite concerning to know that on account of unawareness about the laws, people particularly women have not been able to come forward to fight for their rights in the society. Therefore, we need to seriously work on it so that maximum number of women could be made aware about the existing laws, she said.
At the same time in a bid to make the women aware about the domestic violence and other crimes that they have to face, a day-long seminar is being organised at Bhimtal on Monday, She informed.
Among others Governor of Uttarakhand Aziz Qureshi, Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya and member of the National Woman Commission Shamina Shafeek are also participating in this programme, Arora informed.