Live-in relationships are the norm in Garasia community where women retain a high status in western state of Rajasthan.

Udaipur, India – Live-in relationships between couples who see little reason to marry may be a modern fashion in India’s Bollywood film industry, but for one community in India they reflect thousands of years of tradition.

Members of the indigenous Garasia tribe in the northwestern state of Rajasthan have been cohabiting in live-in relationships outside wedlock since time immemorial.

Social scientists studying the arrangement – called dapa and recognised through formal rituals – point to a low incidence of rape and dowry deaths in these communities where women retain a high status.\

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