Being legally wise

The lack of awareness and education about legal rights has put women in great jeopardy very often. Be it the city-dwellers or rural women, they all need to know their rights and should actively educate others as well since India does have great provisions to safeguard women. Here is a list of 10 legal rights that all  women must be aware of:

Provision for Zero FIR
The ruling by Supreme Court has mentioned that a woman victim can register her complaint at any police station under the Zero FIR ruling. This is an FIR that can be filed at any police station irrespective of the location where the incident occurred. So, once that FIR is lodged and investigation and filling is done with a magistrate, it can be moved to a competent police station in the jurisdiction which the case falls under. This ruling was passed to ensure that the victim gets timely help and that the offender doesn’t get away scot-free.

Sexual harassment
A sexually-harassed female employee can put in a written complaint to an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at a branch office within a period of 3 months as per the Sexual Harassment Act. Further, this complaint is taken up by the Local Complaints Committee (LCC) at a district level, ensuring prompt investigations, if proper action has not been taken against the employer. The complaint can also be filed by the woman’s legal heir on her behalf or any other person who has a written permission given by her to make the complaint.

Non-disclosure of identity
To avoid social victimisation of a woman  who has been sexually offended, the Indian Penal Code Section 228A has a provision that states, “Whoever prints or publishes the name or any matter, which may make known the identity of any person against whom an offence under Section 376, is found to have been committed shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 2 years and shall also be liable to fine.”

Right to property inheritance
The much-talked about verdict in the year 2015 affirmed the Amendment to the Hindu Succession Act 2005 that now allows women to hold an equal share of an inheritance similar to that of a man. The Amendment also created the provision for giving women the option of taking up the role of the ‘Karta’ in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) property.

Maternity relief & work conditions
A provision was made part of Article 42 of the Indian Constitution where the State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief of a pregnant woman.

Cruelty & domestic violence
The Indian Penal Code Section 498 states that whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to 3 years and shall also be liable to fine. The complaint registered against an offender makes it a non-bailable offence, ensuring a woman’s safety and thereby, provides protection from domestic abuse. The acts of violence are not limited to physical brutality, but also other forms of abuse like verbal, economic, emotional and sexual.

Indecent representation
An indecent representation of a woman as per The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act of 1986 includes, “the depiction in any manner of the figure of a woman; her form or body or any part thereof in such way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to, or denigrating women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals”. And it is a punishable offence. The ambit of the law includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other document and any visible representation.

Right to virtual complaints
At any given period of time, if a woman cannot physically go to a police station to  file a complaint, there is a provision in law for virtual complaints to be filed. The woman can lodge a complaint via email, or else, write her complaint and send it to a police station from a registered postal address. This provision leads to the SHO (Station House Officer) sending police personnel to the complaint’s place to record her statement.

No interrogation at police station
Under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it is clearly stated that no woman can be called to the police station  for interrogation. The law states, “The police can interrogate a woman at her residence in the presence of a woman constable and family members or friends.”

Protection from stalking
Stalking is strictly condemned as per the The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 the Section 354D of the IPC and legal action can be taken against an offender. Stalking has been defined by the law as, “To follow a woman and contact, or attempt to contact such woman to foster personal interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman; or monitor the use by a woman of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication.”

(The author is managing partner, Maheshwari & co)