Criminal Offence of Cruelty

Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, a husband or his relative commits the offence when he subjects a woman to legally defined cruelty. Section 85 creates and punishes the offence, while Section 86 specifies the conduct that amounts to cruelty.

Two forms of cruelty

Under Section 86, either of the following forms of conduct is sufficient to constitute cruelty:

• Wilful conduct amounts to cruelty when its nature is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb, or mental or physical health.
• Harassment amounts to cruelty when it seeks to coerce the woman, or a person related to her, into meeting an unlawful demand for property or valuable security.
• Harassment also qualifies when it occurs because the woman, or a person related to her, has failed to meet such an unlawful demand.

Scope and punishment

The offence is specifically framed around cruelty inflicted upon a woman by her husband or a relative of her husband. Under Section 85, the offender may be punished with imprisonment for up to three years and is also liable to a fine.

• The first limb requires wilful conduct of a gravity likely to produce the specified consequences; ordinary marital discord does not automatically satisfy it.
• The second limb requires a direct connection between harassment and an unlawful demand for property or valuable security.