By Anirudh Pratap Singh* “ When a stranger does it, he doesn’t know me, I don’t know him. He’s not doing it to me as a person, personally. With your husband, it becomes personal. You say, this man knows me. He knows my feelings. He knows me intimately and then to do this to me – it’s such a personal abuse.”[1] Gravity of Domestic Violence Against Women Domestic violence in India has always remained an entrenched problem, and it has only been exacerbated in the recent years. About 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence. National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) ‘Crime in India’ 2019 report was highly worrisome, yet not startling. As per the report, in India, a woman is raped every sixteen minutes, and every four minutes, she experiences cruelty at the hands of her in-laws.[2] An estimated 99.1% of sexual violence cases are unreported, and in most such instances, the perpetrator is the husband of the victim. The average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to face sexual violence from her husband than from others.[3] In spite of the recent amendments in the criminal law, the various laws meant to protect women from domestic violence and sexual assault have largely remained ineffective. But what happens, when laws that are meant to thwart crimes, provide a safeguard to the culprits and endanger the victims?!