It was after a long drawn democratic struggle by the women and other groups that the parliament enacted the domestic violence Act, 2005 to curb domestic violence which has become an order of the day in most of the families. Accordingly the said Act also become applicable in the state of Assam and the government has framed rules a set of rules under the said Act for proper implementation of its Provisions.

Though nearly two years have already been elapsed it seems the Act the Act has not been able to catch popular imagination in this part of the country. That apart the officers entrusted with the implementation of the Act themselves are not fully equipped enough to handle the cases under the Act. This is what the Lawyers for Rights encountered while helping a woman in distress to file a petition under the provision of this Act.

What shock us most was the fact that the district social welfare officer, Kamrup district who is designated as the Protection Officer lacks the basic knowledge about the provisions of the Act not to speak of other technicalities like issuance of summon etc. Another interesting fact that comes to knowledge is that till June 2007 the office has received only one application from the aggrieved person. This shows the lackadaisical attitude of the Government in popularising the Act.

The worst sufferers of the domestic violence are the women from the downtrodden section of the society neither have the minimum knowledge nor have the resource to take recourse to the said Act to save them from the worst kind of violence they faced in every day life. In our view a concerted effort by the non-government organisation working amongst the women can ensure effective implementation of the provision of the Act.