A recent High Court judgement declared that, under that most famously infamous section of Indian law, Section 420, a false promise of marriage does not count as cheating, but borrowing money and not returning it does. It was a familiar complicated story. The defendant, a film director, had promised to marry the woman complainant (profession not mentioned), borrowed Rs 9.5 lakh from her, returned only two, and reneged on the promise of marriage, abusing her when she brought it up. Financial betrayal could be addressed. Where to go for the betrayal of promises?

Sometimes, false promises of marriage are prosecuted—under criminal law, as rape. This essentially hinges on a world-view which sees virginity or sexual virtue as a kind of property—like money—that has been taken away; a good woman, who would obviously only have sex within the context of marriage, has been swindled of her ‘good-ness’ and sex must be balanced by marriage to create justice.