Women have right to stay at in-laws’ house under Domestic Violence Act: SC

Women who are sometimes compelled out of their in-laws' house due to domestic disputes can now claim the right of residence in the “shared household” even if the house is owned by their in-laws. In a judgment that would bring respite to many victims of domestic violence, a 3-judge bench composition of the Supreme Court on Thursday held that “shared household”, under the protection of women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, can also be a house owned by the joint family or any relative of the husband, provided that the woman has lived in that house after her marriage as a long-term resident “in a domestic relationship."