As per Section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, as interpreted in…

In Hiral P. Harsora v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora (2016) the Supreme Court struck down the words "adult male" in section 2(q) and treated the proviso as otiose, so a respondent is now any person, male or female, who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought relief under the Act (formerly the main definition was limited to an adult male person, with a proviso covering relatives of the husband or male partner). The definition is therefore not limited to adult males, nor to the husband or male partner, since his relatives in such a relationship are also covered.