In terms of marriage, an individual becomes excluded or attains a disadvantaged position when she/he deviates from the existing norms of society. In this sense, generally, three types of marriages become contentious: (a) widow remarriage, (b) inter-caste marriages and (c) runaway marriages. These types of marriages are treated as deviance from society’s normative guidelines, and such couples are vulnerable to various levels of exclusion and stigma. Against this backdrop, the present study was undertaken to explore the hardships of nine runaway couples (18 participants). The selection of participants was made through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The findings revealed that most runaway couples face extreme relationship breakdown, exclusion and stigma, along with a lack of basic amenities, including housing, household amenities, medical care and ownership rights. They mainly reside in the rented buildings and have achieved an outcast’s status even in Muslim-dominated society. Caste, economic background and social status barriers were three significant forces resulting in elopement that reinforce exclusion and violence against runaway couples.

在婚姻方面，当一个人背离现有的社会规范时，就会被排斥在外或处于不利地位。从这个意义上讲，一般来说，三种婚姻成为有争议的：（a）寡妇再婚；（b）种间婚姻和（c）失控婚姻。这些类型的婚姻被视为偏离社会规范准则，这类夫妇容易受到各种程度的排斥和污名化。在此背景下，进行了本研究，以探讨9名失散夫妇（18名参与者）的困境。参与者的选择是通过有目的性和滚雪球采样技术进行的。调查结果表明，大多数失控的夫妇面临极端的关系破裂，排斥和污名，同时缺乏基本的便利设施，包括住房，家庭便利设施，医疗和所有权。他们主要居住在租用的建筑物中，即使在以穆斯林为主的社会中，他们也处于流亡者的地位。种姓，经济背景和社会地位障碍是导致私奔的三大重要力量，这种私奔加剧了对失控夫妇的排斥和暴力。