The first hours after a woman reports domestic violence shape everything that follows — yet they are also where complaints are most often diverted: "this is a family matter", "go to the Protection Officer", "come back with your husband". The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 anticipated exactly this, and Section 5 imposes positive duties on every police officer who receives a complaint of domestic violence or is present at the place of an incident. This article sets out what the law requires at the police station, how the civil and criminal tracks differ, and what to do when the response falls short.
Section 5: the scripted first response
Section 5 applies to every police officer, Protection Officer, service provider or Magistrate who receives a complaint of domestic violence or is otherwise present at the place of an incident or when the incident is reported. The duty is informational and immediate — the woman must be told of:
- her right to apply for one or more reliefs under the Act — protection, residence, monetary relief, custody and compensation orders;
- the availability of the services of registered service providers and of the Protection Officer;
- her right to free legal services under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987; and
- her right to file a complaint under the penal provision on cruelty by the husband or his relatives — now Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — where applicable.
The proviso preserves the officer's ordinary duties: nothing in the section relieves the police of the obligation to proceed in accordance with law upon information of the commission of a cognizable offence. In other words, Section 5 adds duties; it subtracts none.
Two tracks from one incident
The DV Act track (civil)
Application under Section 12 before the Magistrate — in Delhi, the Mahila Courts — seeking protection, residence and monetary orders. No arrest, no FIR; interim and ex parte orders available under Section 23; breach of a protection order becomes an offence under Section 31.
The criminal track (FIR)
Where the facts disclose cognizable offences — cruelty (BNS 85), voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation, dowry demands — an FIR under Section 173 BNSS sets investigation in motion. In Delhi, matrimonial complaints are ordinarily first processed through the CAW Cell\'s conciliation framework before registration, except in grave offences.
The tracks are independent. A woman may take both, either, or the civil track first and the criminal later; relief under the DV Act is not conditional on an FIR, and an FIR is not weakened by the absence of a DV application. What matters is that the choice be hers, made on correct information — which is precisely what Section 5 exists to guarantee.
The supporting cast: Protection Officers and service providers
The Protection Officer, appointed under Section 8, is the bridge between the woman and the Magistrate: preparing the Domestic Incident Report, assisting with the application, ensuring legal aid, arranging shelter homes under Section 6 and medical facilities under Section 7, and enforcing orders once passed. Registered service providers under Section 10 — typically NGOs — can record incidents, arrange medical examination and shelter, and their actions in good faith are protected. The police officer who receives the first complaint should connect the woman to this machinery, not substitute for it.
What a well-handled first response looks like
Remedies when the response fails
Police inaction has defined escalation routes. For non-registration of an FIR in a cognizable matter: a written complaint to the Deputy Commissioner of Police under Section 173(4) BNSS, and thereafter an application under Section 175(3) BNSS before the Magistrate seeking a direction to register and investigate. For the civil reliefs, no police cooperation is needed at all — the Section 12 application lies directly before the Magistrate, who can call for a DIR and pass interim orders on the first date in a deserving case. A woman turned away from a police station has not lost her remedy; she has simply been pointed, wrongly, away from three parallel doors that all remain open.
This article describes statutory duties and remedies in general terms. It is not legal advice; individual situations call for advice on their own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly must a police officer tell a woman who reports domestic violence?
Under Section 5 of the DV Act, the officer must inform her of her right to apply for reliefs under the Act — protection orders, residence orders, monetary relief, custody and compensation; of the availability of the services of Protection Officers and registered service providers; of her right to free legal services under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987; and of her right to file a criminal complaint under the penal law on cruelty by a husband or his relatives, where the facts disclose it.
Does reporting under the DV Act mean an FIR is registered?
Not by itself. The DV Act creates civil remedies enforced through Magistrates; an application under Section 12 is not an FIR. But where the information discloses a cognizable offence — cruelty under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 498A IPC), hurt, criminal intimidation or dowry offences — registration of an FIR under Section 173 BNSS is the separate, parallel track, and the officer's duty to register it is governed by the ordinary law of mandatory FIR registration in cognizable offences.
What is the DIR and who prepares it?
The Domestic Incident Report is a standardised record of the incident prepared by the Protection Officer or a service provider upon receiving a complaint. It is forwarded to the Magistrate and the police station. The Magistrate considers any DIR on record while granting relief, but the aggrieved woman's application does not fail for want of a DIR — the report assists the court; it is not a precondition.
What can be done if the police refuse to act?
For refusal to register an FIR in a cognizable offence, the remedies run from the Superintendent/DCP under Section 173(4) BNSS to an application to the Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS seeking a direction to register and investigate. For the DV Act track, the woman can approach the Protection Officer or file a Section 12 application directly before the Magistrate — police inaction cannot stall the civil reliefs, which do not depend on the police at all.