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Cambridge Dictionary defines 'Patriarchy' as "a society controlled by men in which they use their power to their own advantage." This approach directly leads to the domination of men in political, social, religious, cultural and economic aspects of life. In this system men enjoy superiority over women and control their role and activities in society. Patriarchy constrains the freedom of women and assigns a subordinate status to women resulting in the marginalization of women although they are the essential and integral part of any civilization. They constitute half the population of world but their existence and importance is not acknowledged in patriarchy. It is quite ironical that in Indian culture they are addressed as 'devi' but at the same time they are also referred as 'abla' or the weaker sex and hence not assigned equal status in patriarchal set up of Indian society. Since times immemorial women had to struggle hard to break free from the shackles of male oppression. Many women writers have effectively articulated anxieties and concerns of females focusing on the feelings of marginality and inequality. Shashi Deshpande is a major Indian woman novelist who has enriched the canvas of literature by presenting the dilemma of women and their physical, financial and emotional exploitations in the male dominated society. Shashi Deshpandes fictive world is replete with female characters that expose the gender inequality in patriarchal society and protest against it. Deshpande's creative talent has beautifully mirrored the pathetic state of urban woman who becomes a victim of patriarchy in her family as well as in society. This paper explores the restrictions and discriminations imposed on the protagonist Sarita in Shashi Deshpande's The Dark Holds No Terrors. The novel portrays the struggle of an Indian girl in a traditional family setup where a male child is preferred to a female child. She faces continuous discrimination by her mother who emerges as a spokesperson of the patriarchal society in her preference towards her son. Sarita or Saru as she is called feels jealous of her brother who gets all the parental care and attention by virtue of being a male. Sarita's mother believes a girl to be a liability and a boy as an asset. The existence of Sarita is always rejected, creating a deep dent in her sense of self confidence and security. Shashi Deshpande has vividly presented social fetters of inequality used mainly as tools of oppression against women, suffered immensely by the protagonist in the novel The Dark Holds No Terrors. The paper is an attempt to analyze the self-denial, patience, devotion, silent suffering and sacrifice of Sarita in the male dominated society of India.