Battered Woman Syndrome

Every now and then, we come across the instances of women being a part of abusive relationships. Factors like financial dependence on the abuser, hesitation and fear to leave, lack of self- esteem, love for the children, etc stops a woman from severing the ties with the abuser and one of the outcomes of this predicament is Battered Woman Syndrome. Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) has been created as a psychological tool for understanding the mental condition of battered women who kill their batterers. It is basically a pattern of symptoms and signs displayed by a woman who has been a subject to persistent suffering, psychological, sexual or physical, owing to intimate partner violence by the male partner. It is sometimes also referred to as battered wife syndrome.

Mainly, there are four stages through which the women who develop this condition generally go through. These include: denial about the fact that she has been subjected to abuse; guilty feeling that she is the culprit of the abuse; enlightenment of the fact that she doesn’t deserve the abuse; and the state when she accepts that only the abuser holds responsibility.

BWS is sub- categorised under Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), for the associated physical and mental health problems are likely to continue to exist even long after leaving an abusive relationship. The PTSD- like symptoms comprise of flashbacks, violent blow- up against the abuser and dissociative state. Other long term impacts include cardiac problems, chronic pains, high blood pressure, depression, etc. There are several short term implications as well from feeling of haplessness or worthlessness to acute depression or severe anxiety.

From the legal aspect of it, the syndrome was entered into the criminal justice system when an American psychologist, Dr. Lenore Edna Walker, started providing testimonies in the criminal trials, supporting the existence of this psychological condition involving the battered defendants. It was required because merely on the basis of the ingredients of self- defence i.e. imminent danger, principle of proportionate force, and imminent provocation, the actions of battered women weren’t getting justified and the juries were unable to understand the same. With regards to Indian jurisprudence, BWS hasn’t been given any explicit statutory recognition. BWS, as a legal defence, can neither be categorised under the general defences as laid down in IPC sections from 76 to 108 which are applicable in the cases of necessity or to the extent of reasonable application only but when such women kill their batterers there is not certain physical apprehension; nor under the special private exception as provided under section 300 of the code which lays down the condition of imminent and grave provocation to be used as defence but doesn’t take the subjective experience of a battered woman into account.

Lately, the Indian courts have begun to accept BWS testimony and other pertinent psychological conditions while giving the decision in the cases involving battered offenders. Madras High Court, in the case of Poovamal v. State, conceptualized ‘sustained provocation’ and the interval between act and provocation was accepted as a significant point of consideration. The 2013 case of Manju Lakra v. State of Assam is the Indian Landmark judgement comprehensively dealt with BWS and set a precedent of it getting incorporated as defense to be used by battered women.

To conclude, BWS is a serious situation and it consumes a woman from within, making it difficult for her start her life afresh. The legal system has been advancing and evolving with the changes in the social environment we are a part of. Although, BWS has gained approval of being used as a defense, nevertheless, many deserving cases fail in reality and one of the reasons behind this is the lack of BWS’s inclusion as a statutory exception. Hence, with the requirement of vigilant check over the always surging up domestic violence cases against women, amendment of statutory exceptions to expressly provide due consideration to BWS testimony is vital and necessary. 

- Vanshika Mehra