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New Delhi: Live-in relationships are the new fad among the young generation. This was earlier considered to be a Western concept, but slowly the trend started in India as well. Many young couples decide to live together, without marrying each other. Though most of the time love is the driving factor behind such decisions, sometimes things go awry and couples end up fighting and at times these fights turn violent. Recently there have been several cases in India of such violence leading to deaths of one of the live-in partners. Here are some of these cases and how the law finally caught up with the accused.
1. Shraddha Walkar murder: The murder of Shraddha Walkar in south Delhi's Chhatarpur Pahadi area sent shockwaves across the nation. It came to light nearly 6 months after it actually took place. This was when the woman's father lodged a missing complaint with the Delhi Police, after he got news that her friends were unable to contact her for nearly 2.5 months. The murder took place in May 2022, just days after the couple moved to Delhi, from Mumbai.
The accused in the case was Walkar's live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, who is a chef by profession. After strangulating the woman to death, he cut her body into pieces. The accused reportedly bought a saw, three blades, a hammer and plastic clips, from a nearby store right after killing his partner. He would use these to hide her dismembered body, revealed reports later. After killing Walkar, Poonawala disposed of her body parts across different locations in Delhi, but not before having stored them in a fridge for several months. The woman's body was cut up into 18 pieces.
2. Manipur woman killed by live-in partner: In a replay of sorts of the Shraddha Walkar murder case, another woman was murdered by her live-in partner in Delhi. The incident happened in April 2025. The body of a woman from Manipur, Lhing Janeng was recovered from a flat in Munirka. The woman lived with her live-in partner, Jagminthang at the rented accommodation. People in the vicinity claimed that the boy had been living in the same place for 2 years and had been joined by his female companion later. Both had together lived at the place for 1 year, said neighbours.
Jagminthang allegedly beat up Janeng to death after a party at the flat. He reportedly suspected her of having an affair with someone. The friends of the couple, who had attended the party, on the night of the murder claimed that the two had a fight over some issue even during the party. They also told interrogators that the woman had been beaten up even a couple of days back by the accused.
The dead body of the woman bore injury marks and a doctor involved in conducting a post mortem claimed that the death could have been caused due to the physical assault. This was however just a preliminary conclusion and further investigations are going on in this matter.
3. Ghaziabad man kills live-in partner: In July 2024, the Ghaziabad police arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly murdering his 28-year-old live-in partner. The man reportedly killed his partner and threw her body in a canal. The man was married and wanted to end the relationship with the woman, this triggered the crime, said police officials. The woman killed was Pooja Devi, a mother of 3 who had separated from her husband. She was living in Vijay Nagar area of Ghaziabad.
The accused told police that he strangled Devi after an altercation. The man reportedly wanted to visit his son who was admitted to hospital, but Devi was trying to prevent him from doing so and wanted him to stay with her for a few days. This caused an argument between the couple and then the accused strangled her to death and threw her body in a canal.
Live-in relationships are not illegal in India. They are considered to be part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court said that if a man and a woman live like husband and wife for a long period of time and have children then this can be presumed to be marriage.
In cases like those described above, the law takes its own course. Those involved in murders are charged appropriately under the Indian laws. Poonawala, who murdered Walkar for instance, was charged under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence). In case of the Manipur woman's murder in the capital in April this year (2025), the police have invoked Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
