Home Governance

Live-in relationships: Fear of love and loving in India

It is unthinkable that marriages and live-in relationships between adults should become so regimented by the state. This is a violation of constitutional and human rights to have adult agency appropriated by the state and non-state actors. 

New Update
Live-in relationships in India vs Marriage

Live-in relationships have been discouraged in family law by privileging marriage for rights such as succession. RC! | Credits CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED

Listen to this article
0.75x 1x 1.5x
00:00 / 00:00

The sanctity of a marriage provides no protection to interfaith couples and those in live-in relationships are even more vulnerable.

Marriage is supposed to offer a couple legal and social protection. However, the sanctity of a marriage gives no protection to couples in interfaith and inter-caste marriages in India. Live-in relationships are increasingly fraught with danger.

Those in interfaith marriages and live-in relationships, therefore, commit to each other with one eye necessarily on security – fearing not only social sanctions but, increasingly, also the state. 

A slew of ‘anti conversion’ legislations in different states have restricted the rights of interfaith couples to marry and now, some even seek to regulate live-in relationships.

This is publicly perceived as preventing inter-faith marriages and live-in relationships. 

The case of Shafin Jahan, popularly referred to as Hadiya’s case, shows how the imaginary bogey of ‘love jihad’ was raised to take away the agency of an adult woman to make choices relating to intimate decisions like marriage. The case had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice. Most couples do not have the resources or resilience to fight such a public and prolonged battle. 

While the state of Uttarakhand has already introduced a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to control live-in relationships, the central government led by the Bha

login-icon

The Probe: Investigative Journalism & In-Depth News Analysis

Dive into the world of The Probe, where investigative journalism meets in-depth news analysis. Explore exclusive stories, uncover hidden truths, and gain unparalleled insights into issues of public interest.