Open Access Research Article
Live-in Relationship: A taboo or the new normal? By: Ankita Bhardwaj & Yuvraj Singh Rathore
Published Paper
Article Details
Live-in
Relationship: A taboo or the new normal?
Authored By: Ankita Bhardwaj
& Yuvraj Singh Rathore
ABSTRACT:
-
India is home to people accommodating incredible cultural diversity
between social stratifications, languages, religious traditions, and geographic
regions, but having a common thing in every culture i.e., the attachment to
their culture. Likewise, marriage is one of the most sacred cultural ceremonies
which are being performed in India since the Vedic Era. There are numerous
beliefs and faith attached to the marriage ceremony here whether it is the
blessing of Demigods or the formation of a spiritual unbreakable bond. But what
happens if a person skips this ceremony to avoid the legal consequences attached
to this sacred institution i.e., the presumption of legitimacy of children,
conjugal rights, rights related to succession, dowry, maintenance, domestic
violence, adultery, bigamy, etc, or for any other reason, and start living
together with another person as a couple, it is called live-in relationship. In
other words, “a course of action in which the couple who is unmarried lives
together to lead a long-standing relationship like in marriage.” This is a
social pattern derived from western ideology and lifestyle. Although, in India,
people consider it as a taboo therefore, at present time, India does not have
any statute in respect of such relationships and relies upon the orders passed
by the Judiciary. But at the same time, there is no restriction by law on
people to come into a live-in relationship.
To answer these questions and to have an interesting look at the
arguments in favour and against live-in relationships, this study will be
focusing on the legality of the live-in relationship in India and their
consequences while considering recent cases. Moreover, the paper also gives a
brief outline of current perceptions of the population via a survey.
Key words: - Live-in relationship, Society, Culture, Marriage,
Conjugal rights.
INTRODUCTION: -
In very simple words, Live-in relationships are walk-in, walk-out
relationships with no strings attached and are free from any legal bond between
the parties.
A live-in relationship is a western concept where a couple lives
together like a married couple without being married with the motive to check
compatibility and experience love throughout the relationship. Love is a
charming emotion that brings two people together irrespective of their sex,
colour, caste or class, and to explore this, the couple may need to spend some
time with each other or live together. Live-in is a type of relationship that
is still considered taboo in India. Society in India does not accept couples
who are living together without getting married. In legal terms, the legitimacy
of a couple depends upon their relationship through a valid marriage done under
the concerned marriage laws that prevail, otherwise considered illegitimate.
But with the changing times, it has been seen in many parts of the world that
such types of relationships are being accepted.
As of now, there is no specific law available on this issue in
India, and to deal with the matters related to this, the court relies upon the
previous judgments which vary from case to case. Not only in India but all over
the world as well, the laws regulating live-in relationships are unclear.
Research Purpose
The purpose of
this research is to provide a clear view of the legal status of the Live-in
relationship in India as well as to compare the same worldwide. Furthermore,
the paper will focus on giving a critical examination of some recent cases and
the opinion of the population concerning the live-in relationship.
Research Problem
There
are no articulated laws available in India to deal with the cases of Live-in
relationships, so how can the Judiciary deal with such matters?
Research Objectives
There are three
objectives of this research paper, i.e.
- To
provide a clear view of the legality of Live-in relationships in India
- To
identify the challenges faced while dealing with the case of Live-in
Relationships.
- To
analyze the opinion of the population.
Research Questions
There are 3
questions raised here, which are: -
- As
there is no statute available, then how the Indian Judiciary is dealing
with cases related to Live-in relationships?
- What
is the effect of such type of relationship on Indian culture?
- What
is the current scenario of India regarding the acceptance of the concept
of a Live-in relationship?
Research Methodology
A mixture of
Doctrinal, Comparative & Empirical Legal Research Methodology is used. The
data for the doctrinal research was mostly collected through internet
information databases since there is very minor data available on this issue in
books. However, regarding the basic issues concerning a legal marriage, books
were referred to. The comparative research methodology includes vetting of
different bodies of each discipline for examining the outcome of an issue. The
process of empirical research involves four steps: design a data collecting
mechanism, collect and code the data, analyze the data, and finalize the best
method of presenting the results. In furtherance, a survey was also conducted
to check the ideology of the people by collecting quantitative and qualitative
data.
STATUS OF LIVE-IN
RELATIONSHIPS IN INDIA: -
Socio-Cultural and religious aspects-
Marriage is a sacrament followed through the
ages, in which a man and woman are bound in a lasting relationship for
physical, mental, social, and spiritual purposes of dharma, procreation, and
sexual pleasure. In India marriage is considered a sacred custom that binds
personalities spiritually, whereby, an unbreakable bond is established with the
blessings of God. Moreover, the concept of marriage assimilates duties over the
couples via different vows taken during the marriage ceremony to take care of
each other in every situation from the scintillating times to the period of the
debacle. The motive of marriage in India is to foster self-restraint and love
for the entire family instead of self-interest which keeps the family united
and prevents its breakdown while keeping an accord of interests between the
person and the family. Therefore, marriage is not just a contract between the
couple.
India is gradually getting familiar with these kinds of
relationships, however, in the areas like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
same kinds of relationships were in practice in the ancient era. Like a system
of contracts friendship existed in Gujarat, viz ‘Maitri Karar’, wherein, people
of two opposite sex enter into a written agreement to be friends while looking
after each other and living together. Similarly in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
‘Nata Pratha’ was prevalent which permits a man to come in a live-in
relationship with a already married woman.
Society scrutinized, stifled, and often smothered the unsanctioned
love among couples, friends and long-time live-in partners. This practice of
live-in relationships is still considered forbidden in India, an expansive and
clear picture of India along these lines will be substantiated by provincial
India and not a bunch of metros. An increasing number of live-in relationships
in Indian culture represents tremendous danger to the very idea of marriage and
the whole texture weaved out of qualities and ethics on which Indian culture
stands. It additionally will in general prop up adultery, as there is no surety
live-in couples are unmarried. Such a relationship additionally supports
bigamy. The rights of female accomplices are also unstable. Besides, no law of succession
and upkeep ensures the rights of such live-in couples. Or above all, such
relationships are delicate and can be broken down anytime[1].
Legal Aspect-
As of now, there are no laws available in
India on such relationships which permit or restrain it or enforce any duty to
the person involved. In some former cases, the court presumed the marriage
relying upon the number of years of cohabitation. At present, Marriage is
considered legitimate if it is conducted under established statutes, precedents
and most importantly customs. Like Muslims marriages are directed and guided by
their law of Shariat, the rest of Indians follow two marriage laws i.e., Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955 and The Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Unavailability of legal provisions in this area sets forth lots of
issues including the legitimacy of a child born through such a relationship,
disputes regarding the custody of the child, violence between the couple and
succession-related difficulties etc. In furtherance of the endeavours made by
the state and the judiciary to discover the answer of these issues, the live-in
relationship has been included in the meaning of Domestic Relationship given
under section 2(a) of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which provides
“Oppressed Person’ signifies any ladies is, or has been, in a residential
association with the respondent and whose charges have been exposed to any
demonstration of aggressive behaviour at home by the respondent”, whereby, the
duty of the state to protect women in a live-in relationship from domestic
violence was recognized.
In the case of A Dinohamy v. WL Blaham[2],
the Privy Council set out a wide guideline proposing that "Where a man
and a lady are demonstrated to have lived respectively as a man and spouse, the
law will assume, except if the opposite be demonstrated, that they were living
respectively in a result of a substantial marriage and not in a condition of
concubinage." This was supported in the case Mohabhat Ali
v. Mohammad Ibrahim Khan[3].
Moreover, the Supreme Court in the case of Badri Prasad v.
Director of Consolidation[4],has
observed that “Law leans in favour of legitimacy and frowns upon bastardy”.
Also, in Payal Sharma v. Superintendent, Nari Niketan[5],it
was opined that “There is a difference between law and morality”.
Furthermore in the case of D.Velusamy v. D.Patchaiammal[6],the
court stated certain conditions which require common-law marriages while
vetting section 2(f) and section 2(s) of The Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005. These conditions are as follows: -
- They must be of legal age to marry.
- They must have voluntarily cohabited and held themselves
out to the world as being akin to spouses for a significant period.
- They must be otherwise qualified to enter into a legal
marriage, including being unmarried.
The court opined in the same case that a relationship like marriage
is akin to a common-law marriage and it must fulfil the abovementioned
requirements in addition to this, the couple must have lived together in a
shared household. Based on the one-night stand or spending weekends together
cannot be considered as domestic relationship.
The Apex Court in the case of Shakthi Vahini v. Union
of India and others[7]observed
that “where a boy and a girl major and they are living with their free will,
then, nobody including their parents, has authority to interfere with their
living together. As the right to life is a fundamental right ensured under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India in which it is provided that no person
shall be deprived of his right to life and personal liberty”. The same was
supported in the case of Kaminidevi v. State of UP and others[8].
The Malimath Committee: -
A Committee was established by the Supreme
Court with the name Justice Malimath Committee and the motive behind this was
to pointed out that, if a couple is in a live-in relationship for a sensible
significant duration of time, such couple will be considered to have married to
each other. The Committee had additionally proposed to alter the term ‘wife'
under Cr.P.C. to include the ‘woman living with the man like his wife’ so that
even a lady leading a live-in relationship with a man would likewise be
qualified for legal support.
Supreme Court in the case of Abhijit Bhikaseth Auti v.
State Of Maharashtra and Others[9]noted
that it isn't vital for a lady to carefully build up the marriage, to seek her
rights regarding maintenance under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. Hence, a lady in a
live-in relationship may raise her voice to get legal support by Section125
Cr.P.C.
Status of Child –
The legitimacy of the child born out of a
live-in relationship often becomes a concern as no matter in what type of
relationship the couple is living (married or unmarried), the rights of the
child are an issue. The Supreme Court held in the case of SPS
Balasubramanyam v Sruttayan[10]that
if a man and a lady are cohabiting for several years, the presumption
under Section 114 of the Evidence Act shall be applied and
the children born out of such relationship shall be deemed legitimate. The
court observed the rights of such children under Article 39(f) of the
Constitution of India which lays down the responsibility on the State to
provide the children with adequate opportunity to develop in a normal manner
and safeguard their interests.
Status of Women –
Although there are no specific laws available
regarding the live-in relationship, there are some provisions available in
different Acts which deals with the rights of women falling under the purview
of live-in relationship. Some of the major rights are entailed as under: -
1. Maintenance rights-
On suggestions of
the Malimath Committee in the year 2003, the meaning of
'wife', provided under section 125 of CrPC, was extended to include
women who were in a live-in relationship. It was guaranteed thereby to provide
financial support to the partner in case she is not able to maintain herself or
if the relationship got alienated. Likewise, the Domestic Violence Act,
of 2005 provides protection against all types of abuse just like
married women.
2. Right to Property
After the amendment of
2005 in the Hindu Succession Act, of 1956, the rights of women in ancestral
property are secured. This step levelled up the status of women, making it
equivalent to the rights of a son concerning the division of ancestral
property, regardless of her marital status. So, irrespective of the fact that
the woman is married or in a live-in- relationship, the right to parental
property will accrue to her by birth.
INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO AND A COMPARATIVE STUDY: -
- France: In France, there is a Pact of
Civil Solidarity (PAC) which permits two adults (same sex or opposite sex)
to be qualified for similar rights as wedded couples. Legally PAC is a
contract drawn up between individuals, which is stamped and registered by
the court clerk.
- Philippines: Here, the property rights of a
live-in couple are recognized by the co-ownership rule. Under Article 147
of the Family Code of the Philippines, when a man and a lady who are
capacitated to wed one another, live only with one another as a couple
without the advantage of marriage or under a void marriage, their wages
and compensations will be claimed by them in equivalent offers.
- Canada: The live-in couple is considered
as in a common law relationship here giving them the same right as the
common law couple. All such couples enjoy legal sanctity if they have
lived together for a minimum of 12 consecutive months, or they give birth
to/adopt a child.
- Scotland: the live-in relationship falls
under the umbrella of the Family Law (Scotland) Act, 2006. Section 25(2)
of the act postulates that the cohabitation of two people can be checked
based on the following three factors:
- The
length of the period during which they lived together,
- The
nature of the relationship during that period and
- The
nature and extent of any financial arrangements.
Also, from the year 2006, in Scotland, if a child
is born out of a live-in relationship, then, that unmarried father has the
parental obligation if his name is on the child’s birth certificate.
5. United Kingdom: The concept of a live-in relationship is recognized by the civil
partnership act of 2004 to a great extent. Both parents are financially
responsible for the children whether they are married, cohabiting or separated.
The live-in couples are not legally obliged to support each other financially
even if they are sharing a house or raising a family together. The LGBT
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community can also enter into a civil
partnership although they don’t have marriage rights. With regards to
inheritance, even if there is no will, the children of unmarried or married
parents have a legal right to inherit from both parents and their families.
Also, if either of the married couples dies then the other will inherit all or
some of the estate and in the case of cohabiting couples if one of them dies
then the surviving partner won’t be automatically entitled to own the property
unless the couple owned the property jointly. In addition to all these
concerning tax assessment purposes, the couples are treated as detached.
All this depicts an overview of the various laws
and policies in different nations regarding live-in relationships and helps in
the comparison of foreign laws with that of the Indian point of view. Contradictory
to foreign laws, India does not have any well-defined law specifically for such
relationships.
THE RECENT CASES OF SHRADHHA WALKER AND NIKKI YADAV
MURDER: -
In recent times, the topic of live-in relationships
was also in limelight because of the Shraddha Walker murder case which sparked
fresh murmurs and suspicions among the people. Why this case became a matter of
discussion for people at large? Why people who were already sceptical of
pre-marital cohabitation have started questioning live-in relationships? How
orthodox society got a fresh excuse to vilify couples who choose to live
together out of wedlock while ignoring the fact of existence domestic violence
between the married? and how this topic of live-in relationships relates to a
gruesome murder case. To find the answers to all these questions, we have to
make perusal of the events of these cases.
Shradha Walker Murder case -
- The
accused and the victim Shraddha Walker met on a dating website. They were
in together since 2019 and in 2022 moved to Delhi. She has not been in
contact with her family as they were against this relationship, thus she
started to live-in with the accused.
- According
to reports, Walker was strangled to death on 18 May 2022 in New Delhi, a
few days after she rented accommodation with her live-in partner. With the
afflux of time, the series of conflicts among them increased. One day the
two were quarrelling about something, and the accused lost his temper
which subsequently led to the gruesome killing of the victim.
- The
police report reflects that the body of the victim was chopped by the
accused into 35 small pieces in the refrigerator, and was disposed of for
consecutive 18 days at different spots in the jungle. The chronology makes
it quite apparent that the act was not a result of the heat of the moment,
but done in pursuit of a premeditated conspiracy. Later on, it was
revealed that the accused was influenced by the Dexter show which is based
on the life of Dexter Morgan, an American serial killer.
- The
galling fact here is that the complaint regarding the offence of murder
was lodged, 6 months after she get murdered. The main reason behind the
delay in complaining was the fact that she was not in contact with her
family because of the glitches that arose due to her relationship with the
accused.
After the perusal of the aforementioned facts, one
can dogmatically say that whether it is about the delay in complaining or
about, her being subjected to domestic violence, somehow the fact of a live-in
relationship is affecting the matter adversely. It is of utmost negligence of
the victim to choose someone like the accused over her parents. She left her
parental house, her parents whom she knows from birth, who brought her up to
the age where she can take a wise decision, but still she decided to go after
someone whom she barely knows. This matter sets an example for the live-in
couples who go against the will of their parents, who separates from love of
almost decades to live with someone to check their compatibility which can even
be worth their life.
Nikki Yadav Murder Case -
Earlier chopping and now stuffing the body in
the refrigerator, after the heart-wrecking case of Shraddha Walker's murder,
there has come a new case of Nikki Yadav’s Murder. The case depicts the
complicated relationship and its disastrous outcomes.
- In
this case, the accused allegedly murdered Nikki Yadav and stuffed her
corpse inside a refrigerator of his dhaba to marry another woman.
- Prima-facie
it appears that both of them were in a live-in relationship but the
accused’s statement, later on, clarifies that both married at a temple in
2020.
- They
Fell in love and took admission to the same university and moved in
together. They, later on, told their families about their temple marriage.
The accused’s family expressed their displeasure for accepting Nikki.
- The
accused then wanted to marry a girl of his family’s choice which was not
appreciated by Nikki and subsequently led to her gruesome killing.
As of now, the accused along with the co-accused
are under judicial custody. This case gives a clear picture of the fact that
how can a live-in relationship turn out to be a journey from dreams of Marriage
to Murder.
SURVEY: -
Since live-in relationship is a shimmered issue in our country so
being acquainted with the people’s opinions is placed at a higher priority to
proceed with any development in this area. So, we conducted a survey in the
month of February,2023 through a questionnaire.
Sample
We used convenience sampling for this
survey. It is a sampling procedure where the researcher selects the person
according to their convenience. We sent the google form link containing the
questionnaire to respondents who fulfilled the required criteria for the
sample. The overall sample size is 117 consisting of people from the age group
of 18-25 years (78.6%), 25-35 years (9.4%) and 35+ years (12%) including both
males and females. The respondents belong from remote villages to metropolitan
cities all over India and are comprised of college students, professionals of
various fields and housemakers. The anonymity of the respondents has been
maintained throughout the study.
Measures
We constructed a questionnaire for assessing
the attitude of the people of India towards live-in relationships. The
questionnaire asks for the basic demographic details of the respondents. It
includes both open-ended and close-ended questions which assess the perception
of the respondents towards live-in relationships.
Procedure
The survey method was used for this research
study. The questionnaire was sent to the respondents via various social media
platforms including Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram. We interpreted the data
after analyzing the answers of each respondent and got to know their preference
and aversion towards live-in relationships.
The
survey was filled by a population comprising 78.6% (between the age group of
18-25 years), 9.4% (between the age group of 25-35 years) and 12% (above 35
years).
QUESTION
1:
It
was indeed a good response as the majority of the population i.e., 98.3% is
aware of the concept of live-in relationships. This made us conclude that the
concept is quite well-known among the people and not alien to the people of the
country.
QUESTION
2:
When
asked about legal awareness i.e., the knowledge of the laws related to live-in
relationships, we found that 71.8% of the population is acquainted with the
aforementioned provisions and 28.2% population didn’t know the same which led
us to the conclusion that most of the people are aware of the laws and legal
angle of such relationships.
QUESTION3:
To
this close-ended question stating live-in relationship as an alternative to
marriage, the majority of the population comprising of 57.3% disagreed with this
point of view while 42.7% of the mass agreed to this conception resulting in an
almost equal distribution of the sample.
QUESTION
4:
The
response to this one more close-ended question was quite interesting as the
majority population comprising of 87.2% believed that such relationships lack
social approval and only 12.8% people believed that such relationships don’t
lack social approval and are acceptable. Both sides gave their inquisitive
responses to the further open-ended questions.
QUESTION
5:
When
there comes to the major reasoning behind choosing live-in relationships over
marriage, one of the major contentions put forward in the favour of live-in
relationships is “Understanding between the couples”, this study brought
forward that 76.9% of the population agrees that such relationships lead to a
better understanding between the couples.
QUESTION
6:
Youth
is surely the future of the country and relationships are indeed a major part
of one’s life, so when asked about the impact of this emerging trend of live-in
relationships, the opinions of the sample were more or less equally scattered
as 55.6% of the respondents disagreed with the notion while 44.4% agreed with
it.
QUESTION
7:
The culture of any country holds great value to its people. So, when
questioned about the impact of this western culture on the Indian culture,
51.3% of the population agreed that it will cause an irreparable loss to the
core culture of our country while 48.7% of the mass didn’t support this point
of view.
QUESTION
8:
As
our country is a democracy thus knowing the people’s point of view becomes a
crucial thing. When asked about framing a law to govern the live-in
relationship, the majority of the people i.e., 88% voted in the favour of such
a step thus, giving it a green flag to take some initiatives in this domain.
QUESTION
9:
What according to you is the biggest reason behind
the increasing preference for live-in relationships over marriage?
This question brought up the grounds and reasons
behind all the above answers. Most of the people’s opinions were quite similar
to each other with some variation. Following are the main highlights/
takeaways:
- It
enhances the understanding and compatibility as to the similarities,
differences, common likings and disliking, etc
- The
increasing inclination towards western culture among the youth
- Don’t
want any kind of obligation and want a free entry and exit into the
relationship
- The
process of separation after marriage is quite complicated in India
- Irresponsibility
and immature mentally
- Increases
chances of successful married life
- To
avoid the toxic long-term relationship
- Due
to late marriages
- Symbolizes
liberal ideology with no post-relationship liabilities
- Lack
of knowledge of Indian culture due to overindulgence in social media
- Live-in
gives a trailer for married life
- It
symbolises freedom, privacy, profession, education and
globalization.
- Youths
consider marriage a burden
- Development
of both individuals
The overall response laid us to the conclusion that
this concept is no more alien to the population and also, we got an insight
into the beliefs and ideologies of the people.
Conclusion and Suggestion
The small sample size is one of the biggest
limitations of this study since due to this, no concrete generalization can be
drawn. Moreover, it was a youth-led survey since the majority of respondents
were youth. The present study attempted to explore the age-based differences
among people regarding their perception of live-in relationships.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS: -
As per the research made and empirical data collected, it can be
concluded, that though Indian society is not that open to live-in
relationships, still such relations exist and shortly the number of live-in
relationships shall increase, and to deal with it,there will be a crucial
requirement of legislations in this respect. For the time being, there are no
statutes pertaining this. Judiciary deal with such matter keeping in mind the
pre-decided cases of such matter by higher courts. But mere precedents will not
be enough to tackle such issues. It has been seen around the globe that various
countries are considering the rights of parties in such relationships, even if
there are no legal obligations of the parties towards each other, the parties
are bound by the responsibility of their children and the rights of the
children have most certainly been protected.
The cases like that of Shraddha Walker and Nikki Yadav have set an
example that how harmful such a relationship could be if you have not chosen
your partner wisely.
But after the survey, it becomes very clear that the perspective of
the society has changed pari passu with advancement in the level of education.
It depicts that half of the respondents were denying the assumption that the
live-in relationship is a harm to the core culture of India. Thus, after
analysing the whole paper and the survey specifically, it is suggested by the
researchers that some steps need to be taken for the betterment of society via
initiatives like providing a system of check and balance governing the cases of
live-in relationships.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
& REFERENCES: -
Websites
9. lawbhoomi.com
Books & Acts
- Chetan
Tripathy: Live in Relationship – audit and analysis
- Hindu
Marriage Act 1955
- Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973
- The Protection
of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005
- Special
Marriage Act, 1954
- Hindu
Succession Act, 1956
- The
Constitution of India, 1950
[1]Live-In -Relationship: In A
Marriage Centric India; available on http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1618/Live-In-Relationship-in-A-Marriage-Centric-India.html, Last visited on dated
26.12.2022 at about 11:15 A.M
[2][1928]
1 MLJ 388 (PC)
[3][1929]
AIR 135 (PC)
[4][1978]
AIR 1557
[5][2001]
AIR 254 (All)
[6][2011]
AIR SC 479
[7][2018]
7 SCC 192
[9]Criminal
Writ no. 2218 of 2007
Article Information
Live-in Relationship: A taboo or the new normal? By: Ankita Bhardwaj & Yuvraj Singh Rathore
Authors: Ankita Bhardwaj, Yuvraj Singh Rathore
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/04/04
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
- License CC 4.0
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