In a significant ruling, the Kerala High Court stated that a woman’s partner, who is not legally married, cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A of the IPC for the offence of cruelty.

The court today ruled this after quashing the proceedings against the petitioner who was the live-in partner of the complainant woman. It clarified that in order to attract an offence punishable under Section 498(A) of IPC, the most essential ingredient is, subjecting a woman to cruelty by her husband or relative/relatives of the husband. The allegation was that the petitioner mentally and physically harassed the woman from March 2023 to August 2023 while they were in a live-in relationship.