A battered wife in southern India had her husband arrested for abuse on Saturday, testing a new law aimed at protecting millions of women from domestic violence.
The act came into force on October 26 and recognises all forms of abuse against women, including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse, and offers added protection and compensation to victims.
Police said in the first case to be filed under the law, a 47-year-old drunk was arrested after he broke his wife's nose with an umbrella because she refused to give him money for alcohol in the town of Tirunelveli, 600 km (370 miles) south of Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu.
"She suffered a nasal fracture and required hospitalisation," said R. Dinakaran, Tirunelveli's deputy police commissioner. Dinakaran said the victim, a 37-year-old school teacher, filed the complaint after years of physical abuse from her alcoholic husband. The new law gives victims rights over their abuser's assets as well as penalising offenders.
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