Domestic violence is rarely witnessed by adults alone. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 recognises this in its architecture: while the "aggrieved person" who sets the law in motion is a woman in a domestic relationship, the reliefs the Magistrate can grant repeatedly speak of her children as well. A mother litigating under the Act is, in substance, litigating for two generations. This explainer collects what the statute provides for children — who counts as a child, what each relief section gives them, and how custody under Section 21 operates alongside guardianship law.
Where children appear in the statute
| Provision | What it gives the child |
|---|---|
| Section 2(b) | Defines "child" — any person below 18, including adopted, step and foster children. |
| Section 18 | Protection orders restrain violence and, in practice, extend to prohibiting the respondent from committing violence against the children of the aggrieved person, entering their school, or contacting them. |
| Section 19 | Residence orders secure the shared household in which the children live with their mother; directions against dispossession protect the child's home in fact. |
| Section 20(1)(d) | Monetary relief expressly includes maintenance for the aggrieved person "as well as her children" — in addition to maintenance under other laws. |
| Section 21 | Temporary custody of children to the aggrieved person during the proceedings, with power to regulate or refuse the respondent's visits. |
| Section 22 | Compensation for injuries including mental torture and emotional distress — pleaded, in appropriate cases, with reference to harm the violence caused the household the children inhabit. |
Maintenance for children inside the DV case
Section 20 is the workhorse. It requires monetary relief to be adequate, fair, reasonable and consistent with the standard of living the aggrieved person is accustomed to, and it reaches the expenses children actually generate: school and tuition fees, medical care, and the ordinary costs of growing up. Two practice points follow. First, plead the children's expenses distinctly — a consolidated figure invites a consolidated cut, while an itemised schedule of fees and costs anchored to receipts is hard to dismiss. Second, where a maintenance case under Section 144 BNSS or Section 26 HMA is also running, disclose it; the court will set off overlapping amounts, and candour protects the order from later attack.
Custody under Section 21: fast, interim, protective
The distinctive value of Section 21 is speed. A guardianship petition takes its course; the DV Magistrate can pass a temporary custody order at any stage of the hearing of the application, because the statute's premise is that a child in a violent household may need separation from the respondent now, not after a custody trial. The order is expressly temporary — it holds the position until the Family Court decides custody in the ordinary jurisdiction — and visitation is regulated within it, including by refusing visits that would harm the child. In Delhi, Magistrates commonly route contested visitation through supervised arrangements, and the existence of a Section 21 order is routinely placed before the Family Court when the full custody question is later tried.
Boys above eighteen: the DV Act's child-specific reliefs run to minors. An adult son is outside Section 2(b); an adult unmarried daughter's maintenance is pursued under the general maintenance law rather than Section 21 custody. Transition planning matters when a child in the case approaches majority — maintenance components should be restructured before the birthday, not after.
Who applies for the child
The application under Section 12 is the mother's, and the children's reliefs travel inside it. Where the mother is unable to act, the Act's machinery — the Protection Officer, or any person on the aggrieved person's behalf with leave — can set the process in motion. The respondent array follows the ordinary DV Act rules: the persons in the domestic relationship against whom the allegations are made. The children themselves are beneficiaries of the orders, not litigants, and courts keep them out of the courtroom unless their interaction is genuinely required.
Checklist for a mother framing a DV application with children: identify each child with age in the application; itemise child-specific expenses under Section 20 with documents; seek Section 21 custody expressly if separation from the respondent is needed, with a concrete visitation proposal; ask for protection-order terms covering the children's school and daycare; and disclose every parallel maintenance or custody proceeding.
Note: this explainer describes the statutory framework for general information only. It is not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is a "child" under the DV Act?
Section 2(b) defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age, and expressly includes an adopted, step or foster child. The definition is deliberately wider than blood relation — a woman's foster child living in the shared household is within the Act's protection.
Can maintenance for children be claimed in a DV case even if a Section 144 BNSS case is pending?
Yes. Section 20(1)(d) allows monetary relief including maintenance for the aggrieved person as well as her children, and states this may be in addition to an order under Section 125 CrPC (now Section 144 BNSS) or any other law. Courts guard against double recovery by adjusting overlapping amounts, but the remedies themselves are cumulative, not mutually exclusive.
Is custody under Section 21 a final custody determination?
No. Section 21 empowers the Magistrate to grant temporary custody of a child to the aggrieved person or the person applying on her behalf at any stage of the DV proceedings, and to regulate or refuse visitation where it may be harmful. Permanent custody and guardianship remain the province of the Guardians and Wards Act and the Family Courts. The DV custody order is protective and interim in nature.
Can the Magistrate refuse the father visitation altogether?
Section 21's proviso states that if the Magistrate is of the opinion that any visit by the respondent may be harmful to the interests of the child, the Magistrate shall refuse such visit. The child's safety is the controlling consideration; supervised visitation at a court-annexed centre is a common middle course in Delhi practice.