Punjab Province Governor Malik Rafiq Rajwana has signed into law the 'Protection of Women Against Violence Bill 2015', declaring physical violence, abusive language, stalking, cyber crimes, etc against women a crime.
The bill passed by the Punjab Assembly features redress for female victims of violence, criminalises all forms of violence against women and provides them with special centres which remove the bureaucratic hurdles that complicate a woman's access to justice.
The law prohibits torture of wives and bans expulsion of the woman from home in case of a clash with her husband and instead the husband could be banished from home for two days, reports Dawn.
A toll-free universal access number (UAN) will be launched to receive complaints while district protection committees will be established to investigate complaints filed by women. Centres will also be set up for reconciliation and resolution of disputes.
Filing a false complaint or levelling false accusations can be punishable by up to three months in jail or a fine of Rs50,000 to Rs100,000.
The violators will be awarded jail terms and fine, besides installation of trackers on violent husbands on court orders.
Defendants can be cuffed with GPS tracking bracelets if ordered by the court and will not be allowed to apply for an arms licence or procure weapons, whereas weapons already registered in their name will have to be submitted with the court.
