Hyderabad: Complaints regarding women who have been deserted after their marriage to non-resident Indians (NRIs) has steadily increased, according to the the AP State Mahila Commission.
“Parents and relatives visit us almost every day with such complaints. Many men get married because their parents want them to, and abscond right after the wedding. In some cases, he runs off because he is having an affair with somebody else. In other cases, the couple comes to the city for a holiday after a year and the husband finds some excuse to fly back alone. The wife, in most cases, is left in a very helpless situation,” said Tripurana Venkatratnam, chairperson of the AP State Mahila Commission.
She said that the process of seeking justice for a woman is very complicated as the Indian law does not apply to NRIs. “We have to get in touch with either the migrants council or the Indian embassy there, who then intimate the law enforcement authorities. Only then can justice be sought. These cases take a very long time,” Venkatratnam said.
Family court lawyers in Hyderabad agree that this is a disturbing trend.
“The wives, in about 30 per cent of cases, live there all by themselves and struggle to find a way to come back. Most of them are unaware of the legal procedures and, in some cases, the American courts declare a divorce through video conferencing, which is not applicable as the wedding is performed through the Hindu Marriage Act,” said Uma, a family court lawyer.
Marriage bureaus have also been blamed for this state of affairs. “Most of these alliances come from marriage bureaus. Families tend to trust each other without any background verification if the castes match, and this is what complicates the situation and leads to a risky consequence,” said another advocate.
The commission has also received over 150 complaints from girls from Hyderabad complaining of abuse after less than a year of marriage.
It has also recorded 45 cases of domestic violence and dowry harassment in the last six months itself. The victims are mostly women in their 20s, who have been married to NRIs. The violence and dowry demands usually come just a year or even less than two months after the wedding.
Full background check a requisite: experts
Hyderabad: Experts, lawyers and psychologists suggest the need for a thorough background check of the person parents plan to get their daughter married to. And in case their daughter is going to be geographically located in another country, they recommend a more specific research.
Tripurana Venkatratnam, chairperson of the AP State Mahila Commission, says, “The girl and her family must keep in mind the Compulsory Registration of the Marriage Act 2012, conduct a thorough background check of the person and get details of his company abroad, his address, contact numbers of at least two friends who live within the area and one contact number of his colleague.”
Dr Radhika Acharya, a rehabilitation psychologist, however, said that there was a need to highlight the option of marital counselling.
“Counseling, especially marital counselling, has always been neglected. One has to bear in mind that the emotional well-being of a person is very important and that it will lead to him or her handling the situation more effectively,” she said.
Next: Man abandons wife at US casino
Man abandons wife at US casino
Hyderabad: They say marriages are made in heaven. But that was not the case for a 24-year-old M.Tech graduate from the city, who married an NRI and moved to the US, only to be deserted by her husband at a casino at 2 am.
“My son-in-law was 29, an M.Tech graduate working in Texas for four years. We approached the family through a friend and thought it to be a good match. It would have been a boost for my daughter’s career as well. However, when she informed us that our son-in-law had left her alone at a casino, we were shocked. When she managed to return home, my daughter tried to sort things out with her husband. When that didn’t work, she went to her cousin’s place in the US and then flew back,” the girl’s father said.
He added that he suspected an affair and due to constant pressure from his son-in-law for divorce, they approached the State Women’s Commission.
Another such case is of a 28-year-old woman whose husband left her just a month after their wedding. “My sister felt restricted and disoriented right from the start. Sometimes, she was not allowed to speak for long on the phone. In just a week, she realised that her husband was having an affair and in one month, he left their home to never return,” said the brother of the woman.
In a similar incident, a father of an aggrieved bride says, “We had paid a huge dowry. Now they send us divorce papers. I have told them to return our money.”
