law: The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
  Chapter II Domestic Violence
  3. Definition of domestic
  
  violence.-
  For the purposes of this Act, any
  
  act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute
  
  domestic violence in case it-
  a.  
  
    harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or
  
  well‑being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends
  
  to do so and includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and
  
  emotional abuse and economic abuse; or
  b.  
  
    harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a
  
  view to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful
  
  demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security; or
  c.  
  
    has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person
  
  related to her by any conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or
  d.  
  
    otherwise injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to
  
  the aggrieved person.
  Explanation
  
  I. -For the purposes of this section,-
   
  
   i.  
  
    "physical abuse" means any act or conduct which is of such a
  
  nature as to cause bodily pain, harm, or danger to life, limb, or health or
  
  impair the health or development of the aggrieved person and includes assault,
  
  criminal intimidation and criminal force;
   
  
   ii.  
  
    "sexual abuse" includes any conduct of a sexual nature that
  
  abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of woman;
   
  
   iii.  
  
    "verbal and emotional abuse" includes-
  a.  
  
    insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or
  
  ridicule specially with regard to not having a child or a male child; and
  b.  
  
    repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the
  
  aggrieved person is interested.
    i.  
  
   
    ii.  
  
   
    iii.  
  
   
   
  
   iv.  
  
    "economic abuse" includesŁ-
  a.  
  
    deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources to which
  
  the aggrieved person is entitled under any law or custom whether payable under
  
  an order of a court or otherwise or which the aggrieved person requires out of
  
  necessity including, but not limited to, household necessities for the
  
  aggrieved person and her children, if any, stridhan, property, jointly or
  
  separately owned by the aggrieved person, payment of rental related to the
  
  shared household and maintenance;
  b.  
  
    disposal of household effects, any alienation of assets whether
  
  movable or immovable, valuables, shares, securities, bonds and the like or
  
  other property in which the aggrieved person has an interest or is entitled to
  
  use by virtue of the domestic relationship or which may be reasonably required
  
  by the aggrieved person or her children or her stridhan or any other property
  
  jointly or separately held by the aggrieved person; and
  c.  
  
    prohibition or restriction to continued access to resources or
  
  facilities which the aggrieved person is entitled to use or enjoy by virtue of
  
  the domestic relationship including access to the shared household.
  Explanation
  
  II. -For the purpose of determining whether any act, omission,
  
  commission or conduct of the respondent constitutes "domestic violence" under
  
  this section, the overall facts and circumstances of the case shall be taken
  
  into consideration.