Section 2 of Domestic Violence Act "Definitions"
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
a. "aggrieved person" means any woman who is, or has been,
in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who
alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic
violence by the respondent;
b. "child" means any person below the age of eighteen years
and includes any adopted, step or foster child;
c. "compensation order" means an order granted in terms of
section 22;
d. "custody order" means an order granted in terms of
section 21;
e. "domestic incident
report" means a report made in the prescribed form on
receipt of a complaint of domestic violence from an
aggrieved person;
f. "domestic relationship" means a relationship between
two persons who live or have, at any point of time,
lived together in a shared household, when they are
related by consanguinity, marriage, or through a
relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are
family members living together as a joint family;
g. "domestic violence" has the same meaning as assigned
to it in section 3;
h. "dowry" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it
in section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of
1961);
i. "Magistrate" means the
Judicial Magistrate of the first class, or as the case may
be, the Metropolitan Magistrate, exercising jurisdiction
under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) in
the area where the aggrieved person resides temporarily or
otherwise or the respondent resides or the domestic violence
is alleged to have taken place;
j. "medical facility" means such facility as may be notified
by the State Government to be a medical facility for the
purposes of this Act;
k. "monetary relief" means the compensation which the
Magistrate may order the respondent to pay to the aggrieved
person, at any stage during the hearing of an application
seeking any relief under this Act, to meet the expenses
incurred and the losses suffered by the aggrieved person as
a result of the domestic violence;
l. "notification" means a notification published in the
Official Gazette and the expression "notified" shall be
construed accordingly;
m. "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this
Act;
n. "Protection Officer" means an officer appointed by the
State Government under sub-section (1) of section 8;
o. "protection order" means an order made in terms of
section 18;
p. "residence order" means an order granted in terms of
sub-section (1) of section 19;
q. "respondent" means any adult male person who is, or has
been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person
and against whom the aggrieved person has sought any relief
under this Act:
Provided that an aggrieved wife or female living in a
relationship in the nature of a marriage may also file a
complaint against a relative of the husband or the male
partner.
r. "service provider" means an entity registered under
sub-section (1) of section 10;
s. "shared household" means a household where the person
aggrieved lives or at any stage has lived in a domestic
relationship either singly or along with the respondent and
includes such a household whether owned or tenanted either
jointly by the aggrieved person and the respondent, or owned
or tenanted by either of them in respect of which either the
aggrieved person or the respondent or both jointly or singly
have any right, title, interest or equity and includes such
a household which may belong to the joint family of which
the respondent is a member, irrespective of whether the
respondent or the aggrieved person has any right, title or
interest in the shared household.
t. "shelter home" means any shelter home as may be notified
by the State Government to be a shelter home for the
purposes of this Act.