'Youth spoiling life by aping casual relationship culture of West': Allahabad HC

The court made these observations while granting bail to a man, accused of abetting the suicide of a woman with whom he was in a relationship.

The Allahabad High Court has expressed concern over the youth of the country, which it said were spoiling their lives by imitating relationship trends influenced by Western culture aired on movies and social media, the Bar and Bench reported.

The court observed that families not accepting of their children's relationship is resulting in eloping, suicides, or hasty engagements to fill the emotional void caused by past relationships. (Representational image/Getty)

The court blamed the influence of Western culture over young individuals for encouraging “free relationships with members of the opposite sex”, which is resulting in them “not being able to find genuine connections.”

The court observed that caste, religion, financial status and other factors continue to affect relationships in Indian societies, where families struggle with accepting their children's choice of partners. They further said these outcomes result in cases of eloping, suicides, or hasty engagements to fill the emotional void caused by past relationships.

The court made these observations while granting bail to a man accused of abetting the suicide of a woman with whom he was in a relationship. Hearing the case, justice Siddharth observed that the woman had "hopped from one affair to another with a number of boys” before she died by suicide in frustration when her family objected to her relationships.

“Unaware of the consequences of following the Western culture, the young generation is entering into the relationships being aired on social media, movies etc…and when they face denial of social recognition of their choice of partners, they become disillusioned,” the judge was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.

"Then the individuals behave, sometimes against the society, sometimes against their parents and sometimes also against the partner of their choice when they do not find any way out from the predicament wherein they get landed after entering into such relationship,” the judge further observed.

'Infidelity is normalised'

“Infidelity is normalised on social media and movies, which inflames the imagination of impressionable minds and they start experimenting with the same…” the court noted.

The prosecution had charged the man and others co-accused with kidnapping and raping the victim for days, following which the woman died by suicide. The applicant denied these allegations, arguing that the deceased woman was in a close relationship with another man before she passed away. His counsel claimed that no case was filed against the other man because of his political connections.

Considering the rival submissions, the court allowed the applicant's release on bail and directed the lower court to expedite the trial.