If your spouse insults you, quarrels without cause, and threatens to take away your daughter, understanding the comprehensive legal steps genuinely available to address this situation is important.

The first thing to understand is that this specific pattern, persistent insults and quarrelling without genuine cause, constitutes mental cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, provided this reflects a sustained pattern genuinely causing you psychological distress rather than isolated, ordinary marital friction, and this provides you with genuine grounds for divorce should you eventually wish to pursue this.

To properly document this specific pattern, it is essential to keep detailed records of specific incidents, including dates, the specific nature of the insults, and any witnesses who may have observed this conduct, since this contemporaneous documentation genuinely strengthens any subsequent cruelty-based claim you might pursue.

Regarding the specific threat to take away your daughter, this represents a genuinely serious and separate concern requiring immediate attention, since, absent any existing custody order, neither parent can unilaterally and lawfully remove a child from the other's care, meaning this threat, if genuinely imminent, warrants promptly seeking formal custody protection.

Your essential immediate step is filing a formal custody application under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, seeking clear, court-established custody and visitation arrangements, ensuring your daughter's care is properly and formally protected against this specific threat, and, if your daughter is genuinely young, it is worth understanding Section 6 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 establishes a strong presumption favouring maternal custody for children under five years.

If you have genuine and immediate concerns that this threat might actually be acted upon, it is worth discussing with your advocate whether an urgent interim custody application, or, in genuinely serious circumstances, other protective measures such as restricting your daughter's passport or travel, might be appropriate.

Given this broader pattern of insults and quarrelling combined with this specific threat, you also retain access to comprehensive civil protective remedies under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, seeking a Protection Order under Section 18 restraining this conduct, and, importantly, a Custody Order under Section 21, specifically addressing temporary custody of your daughter alongside your safety needs.

If you have genuine concerns about your financial security given this ongoing conflict, it is worth ensuring you pursue appropriate interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, or Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), for both yourself and your daughter.

If this pattern of quarrelling has escalated to include any specific threats or intimidating conduct beyond insults, it is worth understanding this could separately support a complaint under Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), addressing criminal intimidation.

Given how genuinely important it is to properly and promptly address both the ongoing pattern of insults and quarrelling, and the specific and urgent threat regarding your daughter, it is essential to consult an experienced family law advocate immediately. You can reach out via Aapka Legal Advice for urgent guidance on properly protecting your daughter's custody and addressing this ongoing mistreatment.

You can review Top Divorce Lawyers in India | Aapka Legal Advice for relevant experience.

Many people find real value in obtaining an independent, experienced perspective from the panel of retired judges available through certain legal consultation platforms.

If formal legal representation is required, engaging an experienced advocate immediately will ensure your daughter's safety and your legal rights are both properly and urgently protected.

In summary, legal steps for addressing a spouse's insults, unjustified quarrelling, and threats to take away a daughter include documenting this pattern to support a potential cruelty-based divorce claim under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, promptly filing a formal custody application under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 to protect against the specific removal threat, and pursuing comprehensive protective and custody relief under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 alongside appropriate interim maintenance.