Madhya Pradesh HC Allows Teen To Leave 40-Year-Old Husband, Live With Boyfriend

The MP High Court has allowed a 19-year-old girl to live with her boyfriend instead of her 40-year-old husband. She told the court the 21-year age gap and the humiliation she faced were the main reasons. 

A 19-year-old married woman has secured legal backing to live with her boyfriend, with the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Gwalior bench permitting her to live “independently” with a man of her choosing. The young woman, locked in a troubled marriage with a 40-year-old husband—more than twice her age—told the court she had endured mistreatment and found no refuge in her parental home either, claiming both spaces were devoid of care or support.

The April 2 ruling by a division bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Pushpendra Yadav came in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by her husband, who alleged that she was being illegally confined by another man. However, the case took a dramatic turn when the woman, appearing in court alongside her husband, parents, and partner, firmly dismissed the allegations.

She testified that the man she was living with had given her the freedom she longed for and made it clear there was no question of returning to those who were “not my well-wishers”.

When asked about her future, she expressed her desire to stay with the very person accused of holding her captive.

Government advocate Anjali Gyanani, appointed by the court to counsel her privately, informed the bench that the woman remained resolute in her decision to walk away from a marriage marked by “discord rather than harmony”.

The court also examined the man at the centre of the controversy. He acknowledged his feelings for the woman, stated his intention to marry her following her divorce, and assured the bench that he would care for her and “not be a source of harassment to her in any manner”.

Taking note of her age and autonomy, the court concluded that the habeas corpus petition had “outlived its purpose”, affirming that she was an adult acting of her own free will.

However, before allowing her to move in with a man other than her husband, the judges introduced a layer of institutional support. They directed that she be placed under the state’s Shourya Didi framework for six months—a protective mechanism designed to assist women in vulnerable situations.

Gyanani, along with a woman constable named Bhavna who had presented the woman in court, were appointed as her Shourya Didis. This initiative, evolved by the Gwalior bench in the 2024 case of Harchand Gurjar vs State of MP, assigns mentors such as female police officers or designated individuals under the Juvenile Justice Act to guide and support women and girls facing distress, including victims of abuse and those in need of care and protection.