MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras HC stated that while minor girls, as well as adult, married, or divorced women, are protected under the law, women in live-in relationship remain unprotected and continue to face mental trauma.
“The courts ought to protect women caught in this web of modernity and culture. If marriage is not possible, then the men must face the wrath of legal provisions,” Justice S Srimathy recently made this observation while hearing an anticipatory bail petition filed by Prabakaran.
A case was registered against him in Tiruchy in 2024 for having physical relationship with a girl and subsequently refusing to marry her. The court in its previous hearing referred the case to mediation, but it was unsuccessful.
While refusing to grant bail, the judge directed the police to include Section 69 of the BNS, which also pertains to physical relationship by deceitful means. The court said live-in relationships are becoming widespread.
It was observed that while some women opt for live-in relationships under the belief that they are being modern, the relationship offers no legal protection, leaving them caught between modernity and culture. While men in these relationships may assume themselves to be modern, they often slam the character of the women in the relationship.
The de facto complainant had entered into a relationship with the petitioner based on an assurance of marriage. After Prabakaran’s family refused to accept their relationship, the couple moved away to live together. Following a missing person complaint lodged by the girl’s father, both appeared before the police, where Prabakaran promised to marry her. The petitioner now contends that he ended the relationship because the complainant had relationships with others.