Hyderabad: A budget of Rs 20 lakh allocated for the rehabilitation of the victims of “contract marriages” by the minorities’ welfare department remains underutilised with just Rs 1 lakh spent in the last two years.
The TS Minorities Finance Corporation (TSMFC) had allocated the fund to provide financial assistance to the girls or women who are conned into contract marriages. The corporation wanted to ensure that the victims who may be ostracized by their families do not end up in unsavory situations out of desperation.
About 10 cases were registered from 2013 onwards and teenage girls who were married to elderly foreigners by their families were rescued. Most of the cases were from Bhavaninagar and Falaknuma but there were some from Kalapather, Kanchanbagh, Moghalpura and Madannapet police station areas in the south zone.
“We had sought the help of the police and asked them to provide details of the victims and their families. But only one victim approached us and we offered the family financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh under the scheme,” said corporation managing director B. Shafiullah.
He added that they were waiting for the remaining victims and were ready to offer financial assistance so that they could lead a dignified life.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, V. Satyanarayana said they had prepared a list of the cases of “contract marriages” under each police station. “Tracing the families is a herculean task as most of them have shifted their residences. The mobile phone numbers provided by the complainants to the investigation officers are switched off most of the times,” the official explained.
Women activists term the scheme as a half hearted initiative of the government to reach out to the victims of the contract marriages.
Ms Jameela Nishath of Shaheen Women’s Reso-urce and Rehabilitation Centre in the Old City said that in most of the cases the brokers persuade the families of victims to withdraw the cases. “They pay them some money again or bully them. The families who usually stay in rented houses succumb to the pressure and move away from the localities,” she said.
“I understand money cannot be handed over so easily. But the inordinate delay will serve little purpose. The police can do necessary verification of the socio-economic conditions of the families or victims but they are already aware of the family background and the case details,” Ms Nishath explained.
