The Madras High Court has emphasised that women in live-in relationships should be afforded the legal status of a wife to safeguard their rights and protections, especially when intimate relationships break
down and promises of marriage are reneged upon.
The observation came from the Madurai Bench while hearing an anticipatory bail plea from a man accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a woman under repeated assurances of marriage, only to later withdraw his commitment. The court refused the bail application and underlined the vulnerability that women often face in such relationships.
“Live-in relationships should be viewed as akin to Gandharva (love) marriages, and women in those relationships ought to be provided protection similar to that of a wife,” Justice S Srimathy observed. The judge stressed that the judiciary has a duty to protect vulnerable women in evolving social arrangements that lack formal legal safeguards.
A key point in the case was Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which criminalises sexual intercourse obtained through deception, such as false promises of marriage, with penalties of imprisonment and fine. The court noted that in cases where a partner enters a live-in relationship based on the assurance of marriage and then backs out, the conduct may attract this provision.
Beyond the specific case, the court made broader socio-legal observations on live-in arrangements. It acknowledged that although live-in relationships are often seen as a mark of modernity and increasingly prevalent in Indian society, they remain a “cultural shock” to traditional norms and leave women without automatic legal protections that marriage confers. Many young women enter such relationships believing them to be progressive, only to find themselves legally and socially exposed if the relationship collapses.
Justice Srimathy also highlighted a troubling pattern: some men who present themselves as modern by entering live-in relationships may later engage in character attacks against women once disputes arise, exploiting the legal grey area that currently exists around such relationships.
“The girls assume that they are modern and opt for a live-in relationship. But after some time, when they realise that live-in relationship is not granting any protection as granted under marriage, the reality catches as fire and starts burning them,” the court said as per a Livelaw report.
The judge’s comments signal a potential shift in how Indian courts may address the rights of parties in live-in relationships, particularly where assurances of marriage and subsequent abandonment have left one partner at a disadvantage.
