Love's labour not lost: Women choose desire over duty

The morality police had a field day about the choices of the two women in Uttar Pradesh, upbraiding them for being selfish and abandoning their children for a lover.

- SANDHYA MENDONCA

From time immemorial, the sight of an older man with a much younger female spouse or partner hasn't bothered most people. If anything, they congratulate the lucky chap. If the man is married, the spurned wife either sucks it up and stays on in the marital home or is cast out, with or without children in tow. In either case, she's expected to be a saintly homemaker and self-sacrificing mother.

Two recent instances when women eloped with younger men have sent this narrative into a tailspin. These were not cougars cruising urban clubs. One woman eloped with her daughter's fiancé and the other left her husband, three kids and religion for another man. Also noteworthy is that both happened in Uttar Pradesh, a traditionally patriarchal state.