Extramarital Affairs: Legally accepted

The Honourable Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code. After the 2018 Joseph Shine verdict, extramarital affairs are no longer a crime in India. As per the judgement, the equivalence, self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and privacy of individuals should be shown due diligence. Perhaps rights to individual freedom have taken the driver’s seat.

With due respect to the Honourable Supreme Court, let us discuss the deep-rooted social impact of extramarital affairs. Many people call it adultery. Whatever the term may be, its consequences on society are significant. We do feel that decriminalizing extramarital affairs may lead to a shift in societal attitudes towards marriage.

Extramarital Affairs – A Glimpse

Indeed, extramarital affairs have been continuing for long and the commoners have remained silent spectators of many cases of homicide or suicide. As India has ever been a male-dominated society, the axe of punishment has fallen primarily on the women in large number. Over the years, society’s strict rules have lost their hold on people. Earlier, many individuals avoided extramarital affairs because they feared criminal punishment. That fear stopped a large section of people from entering into such relationships. People’s attraction to the opposite gender has existed since prehistoric times. Now, they are free to act on it.

In the past, conservative society strongly disapproved of such behavior. Neighbors and relatives openly condemned extramarital affairs. Today, people hardly even talk about them. Most of them simply do not bother anymore. In some Muslim-majority areas, we still see kangaroo courts taking the law into their own hands. They sometimes give cruel punishments to the victims in public, including physical torture. No civilized nation can accept such actions.

Children – The most affected victims

Let’s take an example. Both partners have had extramarital affairs. They also have children. What happened to the kids? The most tragic fallout is often borne by children.

When a marriage breaks down because of infidelity, children often suffer the most. They feel ashamed in society and emotionally lonely. They may feel like outsiders even in their own homes. If they become stepchildren, they may face stress, trauma, or even violence. Such experiences can seriously spread far reaching tentacles in their future.

Unlike ‘Ramer Sumoti’ of Saratchandra Chatterjee, the step child often faces tortures from their step mother or father. The age of Nuclear families has already reduced the bonding of the family. Now, even if the couples break up, it can lead to a bizarre condition.

The Social impact

Now, let’s look at adults who have extramarital affairs. It is clear from some case studies that women have suffered. They faced torture, sexual problems, and other family-related harassment. These issues have been common in such situations. Still, the fear of laws or social stigma, refrained them from breakup.

The decision has also raised doubts about the commitments of adults  to marriage. The earlier law may have forced many people to stay in unhappy marriages. But now, without that law and with less social shame, some people feel marriage has become weaker. They believe it encourages impatience and quick breakups.

Initially the look and sexual appeal play a pivotal role in most of the cases, but they might start feeling boredom or face critical issues in the relationship over a period of time. Will he or she look for another partner, at that point of time? Isn’t it better to sit across the table and sort out the existing problems rather than taking the short cut of breakup? Does any job or any sphere of life indulge in intolerance by any form?

Ultimately,  we must deal with the issue of extramarital affairs with care. The situation is complex and sensitive.  We need to look at both the legal side and the social impact. Only then can we understand the problem fully.

The society might have lessened its tight grip or the laws may be congenial but the future of such extramarital affairs may caste a horrible impact on the society in the long run. We may have to find out new laws to save us from such dreaded scourge of such marital instability.