In the name of counselling, Telangana police turn down domestic violence complaints
HYDERABAD: Telangana police refuse to immediately register complaints of domestic abuse victims. Instead, they are sent for counselling sessions along with their partner, not once but thrice with a gap of 15 days between each session. Police claim their practice is in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in 2014. A cursory reading of the guidelines, however, shows the court made no mention of counseling. Activists blame the misguided mindset of the force — to protect the bonds of marriage — for their callous approach in registering domestic violence cases.
One recent example is the case of popular biker Sana Iqbal. After she died in an car accident while travelling with her husband, it emerged that she had approached the Humayun Nagar police in May 2017 to file a domestic abuse complaint against him. However, she was sent to the Bharosa counseling centre, along with her husband, seven times. No case was ever registered based on her complaint.
“We are following the guidelines given by Supreme Court in the Arnesh Kumar Vs State of Bihar case in 2014, to send married couples for counselling whenever a woman approach the police in a domestic violence case,” Additional Commissioner of Police and head of SHE teams Swati Lakra told Express. “If the issue is reconciled through counselling, then it is okay, else we register a case,” said Inspector A Madhavi Latha. However, the guidelines only prohibit immediate arrest of the accused to avoid misuse of the domestic violence act. It makes no mention of mandatory counselling before complaints being registered.
“The police, in several cases, fail to be sensitive in understanding emotional and physical abuse because cruelty, according to the code, is interpreted subjectively,” says Prasanna Gettu of International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care. “The job of the police is to give options on how to go about with the case, not to ignore and judge the credibility of the case right from the start.”
“The attitude of the police is generally to get rid of a domestic violence case. Pushing the couple for counselling even in cases where physical abuse is evident does not help, as there is a threat to the life of the woman if she’s living with her husband during the sessions,” Dr Farzana Khan, Program Director, My Choice, said.
In July this year the SC issued guidelines on the implementation of 498A, as per which, every case of domestic violence received by the police should be sent to Family Welfare Committee(FWC) set up in all districts. “In several districts, police are using this as an escape route,” says K Satyavati, Chief Functionary of Bhumika, an NGO working on women rights. “To avoid investigating the issue, they even send cases alleging extreme physical abuse to the FWC.” She also claimed that several members of FWC were found lacking legal knowledge and experience in handling domestic violence cases.