Offences against Marriage: A Socio-Legal Study

The sanctity and importance of the marriage has been recognized among all the people of the world. In India, a list of offences against marriage and punishment provided in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which had passed during the British era and at that time the social status of women in India was pitiable. Women were not independent economically and were considered as an object. The structure of the society was different from what its today and several social evils were prevalent during those days. Polygamy, child marriage and Sati system were common and since women were observed as a property of men. Women were subjugated and exploited by men and this led to the framing of such laws. The Investigator in this article will reviews the sanctity of the institution of marriage, which is very basic to Indian society, needs to be preserved at all cost, by analyzing the various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, specifically deals with offences relating to marriage, through a doctrinal study on the topic based on secondary sources of data such as books, magazine, journal, news paper and reports of various governmental and non-governmental organizations.