LIVE-IN AT 18: WHAT RAJASTHAN HC JUST CHANGED – AND DIDN'T

When an 18-year-old woman from Kota walked into the Rajasthan High Court with her 19-year-old partner, she was not asking to get married.

- AGENCIES

She was asking to be left alone.

Their families were opposed to the relationship, there were threats of criminal cases, and the local police were caught in the middle.

The High Court stepped in with a clear directive: if two people are 18 or older and living together by consent, the state must protect them from harassment - even if one partner is not yet of "marriageable age" under personal law.

ADULTHOOD VS MARRIAGE AGE

Justice Anoop Dhand's order draws a sharp line between adulthood and marriageability. Under Indian law, 18 is the age at which a person becomes an adult: they can vote, sign contracts, and decide where and with whom they will live. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, however, fixes the legal marriage age at 18 for women and 21 for men.