MUMBAI, June 7 -- The sessions court recently increased the compensation given to a woman in a domestic violence case from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.1 crore after noticing that her husband and in-laws were multimillionaires. Setting aside the order of a magistrate court, the additional sessions judge said that the compensation amount had to be substantially enhanced so as to compensate her for 20 years of torture and economic abuse. The woman had approached the court claiming she was subjected to years of domestic violence and torture by her husband and in-laws after getting married in December 1997. She said that her husband used to beat her and threaten her with dire consequences if she revealed it to anyone. The petitioner also claimed that she had suffered a miscarriage in the early years of their marriage due to pressure from her in-laws to conceive a son. After giving birth to a girl and two boys, she said her husband and in-laws only cared about her sons and used to mistreat her daughter. However, she continued with the marriage for the sake of her children, she added. The woman, a homemaker, also alleged that she was given a fixed amount to run the household, and her husband would beat her if she failed to account for the expenses. Further, she said that her husband sold a private company, in which she was also a director, without her knowledge and used the money to buy a flat. Although she had a share in the sale proceeds, her husband did not give her any money, she alleged. In November 2016, the woman's husband allegedly stopped giving her any money for household expenses and for the expenses of their daughter, prompting her to file a complaint under the Domestic Violence Act. An FIR was registered against her husband after that. The magistrate court granted her a compensation of Rs.5 lakh, which she said was too meagre. She then approached the sessions court seeking higher compensation. Her petition said that her husband and his family owned several businesses and flats in Mumbai and other places. In response, her husband and in-laws alleged that the woman had the capacity to earn since she was a textile engineering graduate. The sessions court ruled in favour of the woman, saying that "having the capacity to earn by itself cannot result in the rejection of any claim of maintenance by a complainant who is subjected to domestic violence at the hands of her husband". The court said it had been proven that the woman was subjected to economic abuse and domestic violence at the hands of the respondents. It added that her husband and his parents had the capacity to spend more than Rs.1 crore to purchase land and a flat in Kharghar in 2012, and currently run an elevator company. This was "a clear reflection of their sound financial status as also the fact of they belonging to the class commonly known as crorepatis," the court said, adding that the woman and her daughter were also entitled to enjoy the same standard of living. The sessions court, thereby, set aside the magistrate court's order, observing that granting the woman a compensation of Rs.5 lakh "is too meagre an amount". Observing that the woman's daughter is studying in an international school, the court said she was entitled to a maintenance of Rs.1 lakh per month. It also restrained her husband and in-laws from evicting the woman and her daughter from the shared household....