A man and a woman stand close, garlands around their necks, looking deeply into each other’s eyes. He is 29, and she is 19, the text on the Instagram reel says, and they have just got married. Some might wince at the 10-year age gap, but hey, at least she is of an age where she can consent, though only barely.

Except, of course, they were not always 29 and 19. Another photograph appears next. The same couple, still holding each other close. This time, the ages read 25 and 15. 

This is where things are supposed to get romantic. In fact, if you find the older photo unsettling, that’s on you. Because the reel certainly does not. It frames the second photo as a fun little twist in the narrative. It’s a “see, it was always real” moment, a proof of commitment, proof that this was not some fleeting thing, but a relationship with history — even if that history involves a grown man and a school-aged girl.

At this point, the question that inevitably follows is a legal one. Under current law, a relationship between a 25-year-old and a 15-year-old is illegal, regardless of how it is framed years later. But in India, that legal clarity has rarely translated into moral or social clarity. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while essential, has also been routinely misused to police relationships, enforce caste endogamy, and criminalise consensual adolescent love, particularly when caste, class, or religion are involved.

But while acknowledging that history matters, it also cannot become a reason to look away from what these reels are doing — publicly normalising adult-minor relationships and positioning children as romantic or marital material.

The trend, and what it puts on display

The aforementioned reel, which has garnered over a million views, is not an outlier. It is part of a now-familiar Instagram trend in Kerala, featuring a striking number of heterosexual couples following the same template. First, viewers are shown the couple’s present-day ages, making it clear that they are now legally married and, therefore, beyond reproach. Then comes the reveal, delivered almost proudly, that they have been “together” for years.

Across versions of this trend, the ages keep changing, but the structure does not. One reel announces a couple is now 30 and 22, before casually adding that they were also 24 and 16, and in love. Another shows a man and woman saying they are now 32 and 24, followed by an older photograph where the ages read 25 and 17. In yet another, a woman is 27 and the man 40, before the reel cuts to an earlier image of him at........

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