You are a young, aspiring and sincere employee in a Government office working as an assistant to the director of your department. Since you have joined recently, you need to learn and progress. Luckily your superior is very kind and ready to train you for your job. He is a very intelligent and well-informed person having knowledge of various departments. In short, you respect your boss and are looking forward to learn a lot from him.
Since you have a good tuning with the boss, he started depending on you. One day due to ill health he invited you at his place for finishing some urgent work.
You reached his house and before you could ring the bell you heard shouting noises. You waited for a while. After entering the house the boss greeted you and explained the work. But you were constantly disturbed by the crying of a woman. At last, you inquired with the boss but his answer did not satisfy you.
Next day, you were compelled to inquire further in the office and found out that his behaviour is very bad at home with his wife. He also beats up his wife. His wife is not well educated and is a simple woman in comparison to her husband. You see that though your boss is a nice person in the office, he is engaged in domestic violence at home.
In such a situation, you are left with the following options. Analyse each option with its consequences.
- (a)Just ignore thinking about it because it is their personal matter.
- (b)Report the case to the appropriate authority.
- (c)Your own innovative approach towards the situation.
Approach · directive: “analyse each option”
What it asks · Weigh three options, ignoring the matter, reporting it, or an approach of your own, by their consequences for the wife, the boss, yourself and the office, and recommend the best course.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- (a) Analyse the option of ignoring the matter as a personal affair, with its consequences
- (b) Analyse the option of reporting the case to the appropriate authority, with its consequences
- (c) Set out and analyse an innovative approach of your own, with its consequences, and recommend the best course
Open with · A superior who is kind at work but violent at home tests loyalty and gratitude against the duty to protect a person at risk.
Cover
- Stakeholders and issues: the wife at risk, the boss, myself and the office; gratitude versus duty, privacy versus protection, and my indirect evidence.
- (a) Ignore: protects my career and mentorship, but violence may continue and my silence makes me complicit; domestic violence is a crime, not a private matter.
- (b) Report: meets my moral and legal duty; the domestic violence law lets any person with reason to believe it is happening inform a Protection Officer.
- (b) Costs of reporting at once: no direct proof, the wife may not want action or may face retaliation, and I may damage my standing in the office.
- (c) Own approach: verify quietly, then speak to the boss privately and respectfully, express concern, point to the law and suggest counselling and anger management.
- (c) Support the wife: through a trusted woman colleague, helpline or one-stop centre, tell her about protection, legal aid and shelter, keeping her consent and safety first.
- Recommended: begin with (c) and keep facts confidential; if violence continues or she seeks help, escalate to the Protection Officer, police or department.
Close with · Duty to a person at risk outweighs personal loyalty, but a calm, verified and staged response protects the wife's safety and my integrity better than silence or a hasty complaint.
Add value (verified)
- NFHS-5 (2019-21): 29.3% of ever-married women aged 18-49 have ever experienced spousal violence (urban 24.2%, rural 31.6%; NFHS-4: 31.2%). National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21), India Fact Sheet — MoHFW / IIPS (archived copy) ↗“Ever-married women age 18-49 years who have ever experienced spousal violence27 (%) 24.2 31.6 29.3 31.2”
- CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964, Rule 3(1): every government servant shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a government servant. Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, updated to 27 Feb 2015 — DoPT ↗“Every Government servant shall at all times-- (i) maintain absolute integrity; (ii) maintain devotion to duty; and (iii) 44(IV) do nothing which is unbecoming of a Government servant.”
- One Stop Centres integrated with Women Helpline 181 provide integrated support to women affected by violence (PIB, Ministry of Women and Child Development). Steps to reduce gender gap — PIB, Ministry of Women and Child Development ↗“One Stop Centres integrated with Women Helpline (181) have been established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence”
- NALSA: a victim of domestic violence can apply for free legal aid at the nearest Legal Services Institution. Frequently Asked Questions — National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) ↗“How can Legal Services Institutions assist victims of domestic violence? A victim of domestic violence can file an application for free legal aid in her nearest Legal Services Institution.”
- Care ethics, associated with Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings, asserts the 'voice of care' as an alternative to the justice perspective. Care Ethics — Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (University of Tennessee at Martin) ↗“the emergence of care ethics as a distinct moral theory is most often attributed to the works of psychologist Carol Gilligan and philosopher Nel Noddings in the mid-1980s. Both charged traditional moral approaches with male bias, and asserted the “voice of care” as a legitimate alternative to the “justice perspective” of liberal human rights theory.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 378 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Nearly three in ten ever-married women aged 18-49 in India (29.3%, NFHS-5, 2019-21) report having faced spousal violence, often behind respectable faces. Here a kind mentor's abuse sets gratitude against the duty to protect a person at risk.
Stakeholders and ethical issues
- Stakeholders: the wife, whose safety comes first; the boss; myself as a junior; the office and its reputation.
- Issues: privacy against protection; loyalty against integrity; acting on second-hand evidence; my own career risk.
(a) Ignore it as their personal matter
- Consequences: my mentorship and career stay safe; the violence continues and may escalate; I become a silent bystander, and the office learns to look away.
- Assessment: domestic violence is a legal wrong and a public concern, not a private preference. Rejected.
(b) Report the case to the appropriate authority
- Legal route: the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 lets any person who has reason to believe violence is occurring inform a Protection Officer; conduct "unbecoming of a Government servant" is also a matter for the department.
- Consequences: it meets my duty and can bring a protection order, counselling and shelter; but my evidence is indirect, she may not want action, and a sudden complaint may invite retaliation.
- Assessment: right in substance, premature as a first step.
(c) My own approach
- Verify and keep confidence: no office gossip.
- Speak to the boss: privately and respectfully, name the behaviour, point to its legal consequences and suggest counselling or anger management.
- Reach the wife: through a trusted woman colleague, tell her about One Stop Centres with Women Helpline 181, and free legal aid for victims of domestic violence; her consent and safety guide each step.
- Set a limit: if violence continues or she asks for help, inform the Protection Officer or police at once.
- Why: care ethics attends to the vulnerable person in a relationship, not just the rule; this path gives him a chance to change and protects her without exposing her.
Recommendation: begin with (c), move to (b) the moment safety requires, and never choose (a).
Loyalty to a mentor cannot outrank a person's safety; a verified, staged response secures the wife and my integrity better than silence or a hasty complaint.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.