Live In Relationships And Women

The National Commission for Women (NCW) is pushing for an amendment to make women in live-in relationships eligible for alimony. There are thousands of cases where women have been victimized by men in the name of love. But after a while men walk out of this kind of relationship leaving behind shattered women to pick up the pieces of life. But now there is good news for exploited women. The NCW, the Central government's women’s rights watchdog, has its way; exploited women will soon be legally empowered to extract their pound of flesh from the men who desert them. A landmark amendment mooted by Ms. Vyas under section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code puts women in live-in-relationships on a par with wives as far as alimony is concerned.

Section 125 provides for the upkeep of wife, children and parents, who cannot maintain themselves. But at the moment only wives who have either been divorced or have obtained divorce themselves, or are legally separated and have not remarried, can claim maintenance. The definition of wife is to be amended to include women in live-in relationships, making them eligible for alimo-ny as well. And that’s not all. Vyas also wants children of couples in live-in relationships to be enti-tled to maintenance like children born in wedlock.

Elaborating on the Commission’s controversial vision, law officer of NCW says that they are advocating alimony for live-in partners in the spirit of recent Supreme Court verdicts upholding the rights of the other woman. There is another judgment stating that a live-in relationship is as good as marriage. Moreover, recent enactments like the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act treat live-in couples no differently from married ones. The objective is to harmonies and blends various laws in tune with the orders of the apex court.

A live-in relationship is the preferred arrangement of men and women who want to avoid legal formalities governing their union, separation or the bond itself. Bringing such an arrangement within the purview of law is ridiculous and legally untenable. A woman who lives with a man outside wedlock generally has loose morals. Giving her legal recognition would only encourage more and more such women to move in with men without marrying them, thus posing a grave challenge to society. The amendment proposed has sparked a debate among women activists too. The proposed amendment is part of a larger movement striving to recognize unconventional relations involving heterosexual or homosexual partners. Such attempts remind us that many relationships, including sexual ones, are at odds with our existing legal framework but we must be liberal enough to recognize them. However, its implementation may not be as easy as perceived. Even lawyers seem to be startled by the amendment proposed. A lawyer would not mind accepting a brief from a woman in a live-in relationship suing her cohabiter for alimony. This brainwave of NCW is going to be a social hazard. It will promote adultery and promiscuity. It’s bound to face a lot of opposition because moral values still rule Indian society, particularly institutions such as marriage and family.