Kakinada, July 26th: The protection of women from Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) dealing with problems faced by women, particularly young and newly married, is being implemented effectively in East Godavari. The Women and Child Welfare Department (WCWD), which is also known as ICDS, is the nodal agency and monitors the cases booked under the Act. The protection of women from Domestic Violence Act which came into existence on October 2, 2005, took almost two years to reach the needy.

The act covers dowry harassment, economic harassment, physical harassment, verbal and sexual harassment, insult in the form of nick names, house arrest, prevention from attending work including obstruction, and prevention of a woman who is not a minor from marrying a person of her choice, are some of the cases under which complaints can be logged. Now more women are coming forward to seek assistance under this Act. In last two years, 323 women registered their grievances out of 48 were solved through counseling, 148 are at various stages of trails and the remaining are still pending.

The district has 14 courts which conducts the trials for offences under the Act. These include five at Kakinada, five at Rajahmundry, and One each at Alamuru, Ramachandrapuram, Anaparthi, Rampachodavaram areas in the district. The project director of WCWD, East Godavari unit and protection officer from domestic violence, Ms S. Vidyavathi, said women in need can approach her through the phone numbers 2368442 and cell number 94408-14682 at any time.