Women are an integral part of a society. They have as many rights as men have. Constitution of India guarantees them equal fundamental rights. However, in practice, the plight of women in India is not the same as that of men. In order to make them equal to men, the government has launched several schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan, etc. This article discusses the rights of a woman in her matrimonial home i.e. after her marriage. She has certain legal rights available to her. These will be discussed in the next paragraphs.
Women’s Right
A woman has certain rights such as the right to maintenance, right to reside in the husband’s house, etc. as discussed below:
- Right to stay in husband’s house- A woman, after getting married, has a right to stay in her husband’s home (residential right). In Tarun Batra’s case, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India clearly stated that a woman has a right to stay in her husband’s house.
- Right to maintenance by husband- A married woman(wife) has a right to get maintenance from her husband which means that she is entitled to claim basic living standards and comforts of life by her husband.
- Right to child maintenance- If the wife is incapable of earning, then she has a right to seek maintenance for her child from the husband and her in-laws.
- Right to live with dignity and self- respect- A married woman has the right to live with dignity and self- respect, she also has the right to be free of mental and physical torture by her in-laws or husband.
- Right to a committed relationship- A married woman has a right to the committed relationship. A Hindu husband, without a divorce, cannot marry another girl neither he can engage in any kind of relationship with some other lady. He can be charged for adultery if he indulges in some wrong behaviour.
- Right to streedhana- A woman has a right to get all the streedhana which she received at the time of marriage and other ceremonies. It also includes all the gifts, valuable property, etc. Received by her relatives or form her parents.
- Right to file for divorce- A woman has a right to file a divorce case against her husband if it falls within the grounds mentioned in The Hindu Marriage Act. Some of these grounds are- Adultery, leprosy, mental disorder, conversion of religion, desertion, cruelty, etc.
- Conjugal rights- These are the rights related to sexual relations, a woman has the conjugal rights and on the denial of these rights to her by husband, she can sue him.
