The the highest court of the country has issued a warning to young men and women that a boy and a girl are complete strangers before marriage and that caution is necessary before engaging in premarital relationships. A Bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan drew the attention of the nation’s youth to this issue while considering the bail application of a young man accused by a woman of sexual assault under the pretext of a marriage proposal. The Court questioned why she trusted him enough to travel to Dubai and pointed out that the sexual relations that occurred there could only be regarded as consensual. "Whatever may be the thick and thin of their relationship, we fail to understand how they can be indulging in physical relationship before marriage. Maybe we are old- fashioned but you must be very careful, nobody should believe anybody before marriage," Justice Nagarathna said.
The Supreme Court further remarked however deep a personal relationship may be, engaging in physical relations before marriage is incomprehensible, adding that they said this perhaps because they were "old-fashioned”. Anyone who wishes for peace and morality to prevail in society may feel that the Supreme Court’s warning is both timely and relevant, especially in a context in which illicit relationships are increasingly leading to family breakdowns, social disorder, and even murders across the world. It would amount to self-deception to pretend not to see or hear the moral and sexual disarray taking place in the country under the guise of liberalism and progressive pretensions. While acknowledging that changes in traditional family relationships are natural to a certain extent, the growing trend of children eloping—either in defiance of, or without informing, the parents who birthed and arduously raised them—has reached an alarming level. Today, instances of individuals losing everything and seeking refuge in suicide, or being compelled to spend the rest of their lives on the fringes of society, are no longer isolated occurrences.
Without considering the future consequences, young men and women enter into physical relationships before being legally married. Eventually, when matters grow serious, the male partner deserts the female. Left with no alternative, the female partner approaches the courts, alleging betrayal and seeking legal redress for the resulting consequences. If the verdict—which often arrives too late—is not in her favour, further years may be spent pursuing appeals. If the final judgment remains adverse, her life may be irreparably damaged. It is towards such tragic outcomes that the Supreme Court has directed its warning. Not every relationship necessarily ends in this manner; however, it is because many do culminate in such sorrowful conclusions that the Court, while self-deprecatingly describing itself as “old-fashioned”, delivered its observations in the instant case.
Incidents of infants born out of illicit relationships being ruthlessly murdered, discarded, or abandoned in cradles in care homes for abandoned babies)are reported on a daily basis, including in Kerala. There is little point in denying the fact that the education system, the rapid expansion of information technology, and, above all, the apathy and lack of foresight among administrators, play a clear and significant role in creating this situation. Instead of nurturing generations with moral integrity and a sense of responsibility, many contemporary social systems have come to foster a mindset in which happiness and satisfaction are perceived to lie in living an anarchic life as though it were a birthright—discarding all restraint and eroding established values in the process.
The recently unveiled Epstein Files offer a stark vision of where the Western world and culture—which we often emulate to achieve such “progress”—have ultimately ended up. The names of numerous heavyweights, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew, are among those who were either associated with or became “victims” (participants) of the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It is reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has already released three million pages, 180,000 photos, and 2,000 videos related to this. It is difficult to decide who should be put in the dock: the “devil” who supplied underage girls imported from various countries for the sexual perversions of lust-driven presidents, prime ministers, industrial titans, and princes—or the “civilised society” that provided him with the opportunity to do all this. Whatever the case may be, before India—a land of religions and philosophies that traditionally respect moral and ethical values—reaches the depths of immorality, those who wish for the well-being of humanity must step forward to reclaim and rescue future generations.