New Delhi: A widow cannot seek maintenance
from her brother-in-law under the Domestic Violence Act as he
is not under any obligation to maintain her, a Delhi court has
said.
"The complaint has been filed by the woman (widow)
against her three brothers-in-law. They are not under legal or
moral obligation to maintain the complainant who is the wife
of their brother," Metropolitan Magistrate Twinkle Wadhwa
said.
The woman, whose husband had died on January five, 2005,
about six years after their marriage, had filed a petition
under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,
seeking an order to her brothers-in-law to pay her Rs 20,000
per month as maintenance of her as well as her two children.
She alleged her brothers-in-law had caused harassment to
her by stopping the payment of the rent earned from the
matrimonial house at Anand Parbat here.
She alleged her brothers-in-law had caused harassment to
her by stopping the payment of the rent earned from the
matrimonial house at Anand Parbat here.
The brothers-in-law, on the other hand, submitted they
were paying her the rent as per her share. They also said the
woman was the second wife of their brother and his first wife
has also to be taken care of as she had also filed a case
of maintenance against them.
Taking the submissions of the brothers-in-law into
account, the court said the payment being made to the woman
was justified in view of their legal position.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 01, 2010, 21:35