Sections 6 and 7 of the Domestic Violence Act: Duties of Shelter Homes and Medical Facilities

Sections 6 and 7 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 impose direct statutory duties on shelter homes and notified medical facilities when shelter or medical aid is requested for an aggrieved person.

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Section 6 - Duties of shelter homes

Section 6 requires the person in charge of a shelter home to provide shelter to an aggrieved person when the request is made by the aggrieved person herself, or on her behalf by a Protection Officer or a service provider. The provision therefore creates a mandatory duty once a qualifying request for shelter is made.

Key point: The statutory language uses "shall provide shelter". The request may come directly from the aggrieved person or through a Protection Officer or service provider acting on her behalf.

Section 7 - Duties of medical facilities

Section 7 requires the person in charge of a medical facility to provide medical aid to an aggrieved person when she requests it, or when the request is made on her behalf by a Protection Officer or a service provider. The duty applies to a "medical facility" notified by the State Government for the purposes of the Act.

Key point: Section 7 is framed as a mandatory obligation to provide medical aid in the medical facility when a request covered by the section is made.

Relevant definitions under Section 2

Aggrieved person - Section 2(a): a woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges that she has been subjected to an act of domestic violence by the respondent.
Medical facility - Section 2(j): a facility notified by the State Government as a medical facility for the purposes of the Act.
Protection Officer: Protection Officers are appointed by the State Government under Section 8. Their statutory duties are set out principally in Section 9.
Service provider - Section 10: qualifying voluntary associations registered under the Companies Act or under another law may register with the State Government as service providers for purposes of the Act.

How Sections 6 and 7 operate

The two provisions address immediate protective needs. Section 6 concerns safe shelter, while Section 7 concerns medical aid. In each case, the Act permits the aggrieved person to make the request herself and also allows a Protection Officer or service provider to make the request on her behalf.

These duties form part of the wider statutory framework of the 2005 Act, which provides for Protection Officers, service providers and applications for relief before the Magistrate. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 supplement the Act and came into force on 26 October 2006.

Official legal resources

For the authoritative text and current statutory material, refer to the official India Code resources:

India Code - Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 Official text of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

Related provisions

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 - overview

Section 5 - Duties of police officers, service providers and Magistrate

Sections 8 and 9 - Protection Officers and their duties

Sections 10 and 11 - Service providers and duties of Government