Atul Subhas
After engineer Atul Subhash committed suicide, there were rumors of registering an FIR against four people, including his wife Nikita Singhania. Atul allegedly wrote a suicide note against his wife and five people in which he spoke of torture.
After this incident, a new debate started on the abuse of dowry and domestic violence laws. To understand this, we have to look at NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data. Data from 2018 to 2022 tells a different story this time.
First – NCRB reports that Section 498A and Domestic Violence Act cases are being registered but the conviction rate is low. In 2018, only 13% of cases registered under Section 498A resulted in penalties. In domestic law cases, this proportion is close to 59%.
second – In 2019, the conviction rate for cases registered under Section 498A increased but was very low. The conviction rate for this size was 13% in 2018 and rose to around 15% the following year in 2019, but over the same period, the conviction rate for domestic violence cases dropped from 59% to around 22%.
third – The year 2020 also saw an increase in the conviction rate in cases registered under Section 498A. This year the proportion increased from 15% to 18%. In comparison, if we talk about the penalties for cases under the Domestic Violence Act, it increased from 22% in 2019 to 66%. This is the highest level in the past five years.
fourth – If we look at the NCRB data for 2021, we find that the conviction rate for cases registered under Section 498A this year was around 17%. Meanwhile, the conviction rate for domestic violence cases this year is 30%. This is about 36% less than last year. In 2022, this conviction rate dropped further.
fifth– According to NCRB data for 2022, the conviction rate of cases registered under 498A is about 18%. Meanwhile, the conviction rate for domestic violence cases in the same year was 18%. It would appear that the conviction rate for these two laws in 2022 will be around 18%. This means that the penalty rate for such cases is negligible.
