My view on the whole running away is neutral. I don't find it as a positive thing, of course... but I don't want to paint it in a negative light either. Its better to sort out issues before going into the wedding. And sometimes, the issues and their solutions are not always as clear-cut and might require more time and thinking to deal with; which was probably not as available in the last minute before the wedding. Again, yes there were better ways to call off or postpone the wedding rather than running away. So while the running away is not a very positive act, the reason behind it is a very genuine and valid one. Some of these grey issues like MIL behaviour, etc tend to get brushed off as no big deal. But in real life, esp in the long run, they do become a big deal. And if someone has misgivings about these before the wedding it is better to call off or stall the wedding to sort out the issues instead of worrying about the effects on one's parents or in-laws.
So while I agree that the question raised in terms of treatment of a DIL vs the son is a valid women-empowerment question but this track in IB would have made sense if they didn't drag it this way. They sort of diluted the whole thing with the ghost track and party episodes. Yesterday's epi with SVR's entry should have happened right after Mallika's entry epi and the whole thing should have been concluded in 3-4 episodes in my POV.