New law against domestic violence claims first victim

Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, Oct 28 (UNI) The Domestic Violence Act, which came into force on Thursday, claimed its first victim with the arrest of a middle-aged man in this district in south Tamil Nadu today for allegedly harassing his wife.

Police sources said Joseph, a resident of Bharathi street near Mettupalayam, was arrested under the Domestic Violence Act 2005, following a complaint from his wife Benedick Mary (37).

Joseph, working as an assistant in the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board, was a habitual wife thrasher. Yesterday, he assaulted his wife with an umbrella and injured her, the sources said.

Mary, a government school teacher, chose to lodge a complaint with the Mettupalayam police station after coming to know about the lastest Act through newspaper reports. She was admitted to hospital for treatment.

The Act which was passed by Parliament in August last year and approved by the President on September 13, 2005, came into force on October 26, 2006.

It seeks to give protection to the wife or female live-in partner from violence at the hands of the husband or male live-in partner or his relatives.

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