By Amala Dasarathi
On Sunday, 19th June, the Delhi High Court acquitted a man who had been convicted of rape and criminal intimidation and sentenced for 10 years imprisonment by a trial court in 2013. Justice Pratibha Rani said, “It is clear that the prosecutrix (woman), who had been living alone away from her husband in Delhi, was in live-in relationship with the appellant (man).” The Court also said that the woman made “deliberate improvements” on her statement, which did not inspire confidence. The Court also took into account that the man was well known to the woman. From reports on this judgement, it looks like the relationship between the victim and the accused played an important role in the verdict given on the case.
The victim alleged that the accused raped her in January 2011, one night, when she was alone at home that night. The front door was open and the accused entered her room and raped her, she claims. The accused denied these allegations. The defence argued that the victim had borrowed money from the accused prior to the alleged rape, and filed a false case when the accused asked her to repay the amount. The accused’s counsel also argued that the victim was in a live-in relationship with the accused. The victim alleged that this money was offered to her to change her statement in Court, but later admitted to having received the money from the accused prior to the alleged rape.
Another recent case concerning live-in relationships is that of Rhea Pillai and Leander Paes. Rhea Pillai filed a case of domestic violence against Leander Paes when he filed for custody of their daughter in 2013. Paes argued that she could not file a case under the Domestic Violence Act as they were not married. In March 2015, the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate ruled in Pillai’s favour, saying that she could file a case even if they were not married. In December 2015, a Sessions Court said that in spite of the fact that the couple were in a live-in relationship and had a daughter together, Pillai’s claim may not be maintainable under the Domestic Violence Act as the couple was not married. The case has now been referred for mediation by the Bombay High Court.
There is a grey area about how live-in relationships are to be dealt with by courts in India. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that all couples in live-in relationships will not be treated as being in a relationship equivalent to marriage, if it can be proved that this is not the nature of their relationship. Essentially, this means that every court has the discretion to decide whether it will consider a particular live-in relationship as being in the nature of marriage or not.