British Concept Of Changing Partners: Allahabad HC On ‘Live-In-Relationship’

The Allahabad High Court has recently stated that live-in relationships are destroying the institution of marriage in India while granting bail to a man accused of rape by his live-in partner.

The Court observed that it is very difficult for women to find a partner for marriage after coming out of a live-in relationship.

Furthermore, the Indian middle class does not look upon these women as “normal.”

“They don’t consider a female coming out of such a relationship as a normal being. Exception apart, no family willingly accepts such a female as their family member,” the court said, adding that there are several cases of women who die by suicide after coming out of live-in relationships, because of “disgust caused by socially ill behavior.”

The concept of live-in relationships itself was slammed by the High Court which stated that it is not the hallmark of a healthy society.

The Bench of Justice Siddharth also noted, “There is systematic design to destroy the institution of marriage in India. The brutish concept of changing partners every season cannot be considered to be a hallmark of a stable and healthy society.”

These observations were made in the context of a case from Saharanpur where a 19-year-old woman filed a rape case against her live-in partner. The woman become pregnant after an apparently consensual relationship.

However, her partner allegedly reneged on his promise to marry her, after which she filed a rape case against him.
Justice Siddharth stated, “Live-in relationship shall only be considered normal after the institution of marriage becomes obsolete in this country, like in many of the so-called developed countries where it has become a big problem for them to protect the institution of marriage.”