90% rape cases have live-in as common factor in Ggn

The recent incident of the Ajay Bhardwaj rape case, which led to a spat between the top cops of Gurgaon Police, has brought a few things to light. According to the statistics received from the Gurgaon Police (Crime), 90 per cent rape cases have ‘live-in-relationship’ as a common factor.

The records show that a total of 198 rape cases were filed in the Millennium City since January 2014. Out of the 198 cases, 175 cases had a common factor of <g data-gr-id="33">live-in-relationships</g>. In the Ajay Bharadwaj case, Ajay was accused of raping the victim with whom he was in a live-in relationship for seven years and had two kids.

In a major psychological boost to couples in live-in relationships, the Supreme Court for the first time in July 2015, removed the stigma from such liaisons, saying it has now become an accepted norm in society.

“In modern times, <g data-gr-id="28">live-in</g> relationship has become an acceptable norm. It is not a crime,” a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said.

This judgment of the Supreme Court raises a lot of questions against the norms that helps to identify the accused involved in a live-in-relationship.

The Supreme Court had earlier, ruled that live-in relationship is not a crime and acknowledged that with passing time, society has accepted it and the relation does not attract any legal action.

“Having children is a strong indication of a relationship in the nature of marriage. “Parties, therefore, intend to have a long-standing relationship”, said a police official involved in the Bhardwaj investigation.

The above highlights raise a lot of questions, as RP Singh, Director General (Crime), will be presenting a final report on October 9, covering the investigation of Ajay Bhardwaj who was accused of raping her <g data-gr-id="34">live-in-partner</g>. The report will also be of a great significance in identifying Navdeep Singh Virk the CP or Bharti Arora the Joint CP as guilty.