Rights and Liabilities of a Hindu Female Legal Discourse

Hindu Law has conferred certain rights to a Hindu woman to enable her facilities for livelihood such as right to claim maintenance, right to adopt a child, absolute right under property possessed, etc. These rights are conferred in accordance with Natural Laws and Hindu rituals, texts, etc. Hindu law also confers liabilities to a woman to maintain her children, her dependants and in certain cases her husband. She has a liability to perform certain rituals like saptapadi.This paper endeavours to make a study of legal framework related to certain rights of a female in Hindu joint family in comparison to the right to life provided in article 21 of the constitution of India and other international covenants like Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights 1966, International Covenant on Elimination of Discrimination against Women 1986, etc. It also states some of the liabilities on a Hindu female that are part and parcel of the existence of the Hindu joint family and provide a glimpse of the tradition-bound Hindu society.