As the Shraddha murder case came into the media limelight and shocked the nation due to the ghastly modus operandi of her live-in partner Aftab (He reportedly strangulated her, cut her body into multiple pieces, charred her face to hide her identity, and disposed them off over 18 days at various parts of Delhi NCR), the pertinent question raises its monstrous head yet again as to whether India is ready to embrace a set up like Live-in yet??
This may not be the standalone case in our country where live-in couples are involved but the sheer hideous nature of the killing caught everybody's attention.
Now according to Google, the definition of a LIVE-IN RELATIONSHIP is a mutual arrangement where two people involved in a romantic and sexual relationship as partners for a long term or permanently, decide to live together without marriage. A live-in relationship is also called "cohabitation" in some countries. In India, a live-in relationship has been given legal status too. The Apex Court even stated that a woman and a man living together is a choice and lies under the right to life.
Having said that I strongly believe that the young generation of our country who is aping the west blindly and getting into this setup of live-in has not understood the real meaning of being in a live-in relationship. For them being in a live-in relationship is an escape from boundation and responsibilities that marriage brings with it. They want to have the cake and eat it too sans the confinement, restrictions, or legal implications.
To an extent that is fine but the problem arises when either of the partners starts behaving as if he/she owns the other person and starts controlling and dictating terms like whom to meet, where to go and when to return. I am not saying this does not happen in marriage but a live-in relationship is designed in such a way that both partners are free to decide their journey of life, living together under one roof. There is no constraint of any sort and both partners are independent to pursue their dreams, desires, and ambitions. The other partner can provide moral and emotional support if needed.
In this case, also Shraddha and Aftab were in a live-in relationship for good three years. Three years time is a good duration to understand the compatibility between both partners. Shraddha, who was not on talking terms with her parents (they didn't approve of their relationship right from the start) reportedly confided with her mother and one of her male friends that Aftab used to beat her up.
Now a live-in relationship is a good setup to check mutual compatibility. Its a sort of prototype of marriage, to check the mutual bonding over a period of time, to check how well the two partners share the day-to-day responsibilities without any social or family pressures and if things are not going smoothly then any one of the two can move out of the setup without the stamp of a - Divorcee.
It's a wonderful setup but the problem arises when despite being beaten up and being micromanaged live-in partner's like Shraddha continue to stay in the setup and eventually pay a heavy price.
Shraddha should have seen the writing on the wall considering she was a mature adult of 26 yrs and should have moved out way before. There was no compulsion, no family or social pressure to stay in such toxic relationship. The only reason I can see here might be blind love or dependency.
Aftab reportedly too said in his confession that he had planned to kill her live-in partner long before the actual murder as things were not the same between the two of them as they were during the initial days. They used to fight a lot and he didn't like Shraddha talking or chatting with other male friends of hers. A day before the actual murder, Shraddha left the house after a fight with Aftab and stayed overnight at a male friend of hers which further infuriated Aftab who eventually took the ultimate step of killing her brutally.
Now Aftab too should have thought over it as to where the relationship is going and should have parted ways with Shraddha unless he had some vested interest in having an eye on her money considering he had her net banking details with him with which he transferred a good sum of money into his account after killing her.
Shraddha's murder case is yet to be solved and in days to come, we shall see a lot of truth uncovered by the police related to what led to this heinous crime. But this case is also an eye-opener for everyone which makes us realize that following the west blindly can have disastrous results.
Before getting into the live-in relationship, the two partners in question need to incline themselves mentally as to why they are getting into such a setup and what they both are seeking together and individually from this set up. After all to embrace something different to our culture we Indians should start thinking from our head rather than our heart if not completely then at least a bit.
Hope you resonate with my thoughts on this topic on which I was thinking of writing a blog since this dreaded news broke into the media. Looking forward to your comments and views on the said topic.
So until next time!
HAPPY READING!!
