In-laws want to remove daughter-in-law from house- Used Senior Citizen Act as a weapon

A session’s court in Mumbai has dismissed a petition filed under the Senior Citizens Act, 2007, a law made for elderly. A daughter-in-law had filed a criminal case alleging domestic violence against her in-laws. The mother-in-law also filed a petition under the Senior Citizens Act starting that the son had left the house after getting upset with the daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law lives with their self-acquired property i.e. in the house. He also harassed her mentally and emotionally. Therefore, there is an appeal to the court to order the daughter-in-law to leave the house.

Now the court ruled that the elderly cannot use the Senior Citizen Act as a weapon in case of domestic violence. In such a situation, there will be a question in your mind that what is this Senior Citizen Act, who are the people in it and when and how it can be use.

The Senior Citizens Act, 2007 has been enacted to provide financial security, medical security maintenance (cost of living) and protection to elderly. In the above mentioned case, the counsel appearing for the daughter-in-law had argued that no provision of the Domestic Violence Act entitles the mother-in-law to vacate the common house with her daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law lived in the same house with her husband and in-laws since marriage, so it is a shared house and she has the right to live there.