Denying 'Stridhana' to widow akin to domestic violence: Calcutta High Court

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday held that denying rights to "stridhana", or related financial assets, to widows is equivalent to domestic violence against them.

As per law, stridhana is all movable, immovable property, gifts, etc a woman receives during prior to marriage, at the time of marriage, during childbirth, and widowhood.

Delivering the verdict in a case related to stridhana, a single-judge bench of Justice Subhendu Samanta ruled that denying a widow of her rights to any financial assets, including stridhana, is equivalent to domestic violence.

"In this particular case, it is clear that the petitioner has been denied her rights to stridhana for a long time by the defendant and the latter kept it in their custody. This is equivalent to domestic violence," he said.

The hearing was on a petition by a widow against her in-laws, who allegedly forced her out of the house just two days after her husband died in 2010.

The petitioner moved a lower court in Howrah district alleging that while she was forced out of her in-law's place, she was denied any sort of financial assistance including the stridhana.

However, the lower court in Howrah rejected her petition and also observed that her father-in-law and mother-in-law do not need to render her any kind of financial assistance. She then approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the decision.

After a long hearing in the matter, the bench of Justice Samanta ruled in her favour, dismissing the order of the lower court.