Marry and abandon: The NRI game plays on in absence of strong laws

According to the National Council of Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma, they have recorded at least 2,490 complaints from women against their NRI husbands in the past several years. In Punjab alone, which is termed as the NRI belt of the country, a total of 80 cases have been registered in 2019.

Indore’s Kiran Parwani and her family were joyous when they got a request on a matrimonial site from Kabir Jagwani, a second-generation migrant teaching at London’s Cumberland School. It was an ideal match for Kiran, a double Masters in Computers and Business, or so her Sindhi family believed.

Kabir and Kiran began talking, and sometime later Kabir asked Kiran to come to London for registration of their marriage — without her parents — with Kabir’s mother saying they would arrange “fake parents” for her. “It was an unusual request because usually, registration happens after the wedding,” said 34-year-old Kiran who nonetheless went to London.

Kiran alleged while returning to India, Kabir’s family clearly said the wedding expenses should be entirely borne by the girl’s family. “In December 2017, a week before the wedding was scheduled, Kabir texted me asking how many suitcases should they bring to take back the gifts they would receive during the wedding.”

“We got married in Indore, after which we went to Goa the next day for a three-day honeymoon on Kabir’s insistence as he was to leave for London at the earliest. Soon, my visa was approved and I was to fly three months later. Kabir and his family had by then left with gifts and cash worth Rs 20 lakh,” said Kiran.

On March 18, 2018, when Kiran was readying to board the London flight, she got a call from Kabir asking her not to fly. “He asked me not to fly and threatened that the London immigration will arrest me at arrival if I tried to reach him,” alleged Kiran, adding she has that WhatsApp conversation saved. Her father also got a call from Kabir’s mother demanding a dowry of Rs 1 crore, she said.

A shattered Kiran tried to call back Kabir only to find that she had been blocked by him. Her parents were also blocked.

It’s 2019 and Kiran continues to fight for justice. “It took me two months to even register a formal complaint at a police station. Most officials were avoiding filing one calling it a marital dispute.” Her cases are pending in family court and district court in Indore, and, she said, no court has even issued summons or a lookout circular to Kabir.

Likewise, Chennai’s Cynthia, 35, was abandoned by her NRI husband, Raphael, a resident of Singapore in 2013, just after 40 days of marriage. When Cynthia noticed only a few people at the wedding reception at Raphael’s hometown Dindigul, she was told it was because she belonged to a lower caste.

Cynthia said Raphael, who approached her through a matrimonial website, married her to pay off his house loans and other loans in Singapore. Raphael took Rs 5 lakh as dowry and demanded more money after the wedding. When he was refused for the second time, he physically abused Cynthia and kept her hostage in a room in Singapore. A month later, when Raphael realised that she was pregnant, he sent her back saying he has got a job in Indonesia.

“The moment I reached India, Raphael cut me off completely. His parents said they were unaware of his whereabouts. Later, I went to Chennai and found out that he was engaged to another woman without giving me a divorce,” alleged Cynthia.

The numbers

Kiran and Cynthia are among the many cases of NRI abandoned wives, also referred to as “honeymoon brides” and “holiday brides”, that abound in India.

According to National Council of Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma, they have recorded at least 2,490 complaints from women against their NRI husbands in the past several years. “The number of complaints is increasing every year. There were 425 complaints in 2014, 422 in 2015, 468 in 2016, 528 in 2017 and 445 in 2018,” said Sharma.

In Punjab alone, which is termed as the NRI belt of the country, a total of 80 cases have been registered in 2019, said Hardawinder Singh of NRI Wing, Punjab.

What are the laws

According to Sharma, as of now, desertion of wives by NRI men do not amount to a criminal offence and only gives ground for the filing of divorce or restitution of conjugal rights. Desertion, however, may come within the ambit of ‘cruelty’ as stated under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

The latest NRI amendment bill 2019 that remains to be passed allows compulsory registration of marriage within 30 days in India or abroad. Similarly, the Amendment to the Passport Act would empower the passport authority to impound or revoke the passport of an NRI if it is brought to notice that he has not registered the marriage. The Amendments to CrPC, 1973 empowers the courts for issuance of summons and warrants through the specially designated website of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The legal loopholes

After losing hope in India, Kiran had approached the London police that assured her to investigate if the Indian authorities inform them. She also wrote to Kabir’s school principal whom she had met while in London for the marriage registration. Soon after, Kabir’s father, however, threatened to put Kiran in jail if she tried to reach out to anyone in London.

Source-https://indianexpress.com/article/india/marry-and-ababdon-the-nri-game-plays-on-in-absence-of-strong-laws-mea-ncw-5836398/

According to the National Council of Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma, they have recorded at least 2,490 complaints from women against their NRI husbands in the past several years. In Punjab alone, which is termed as the NRI belt of the country, a total of 80 cases have been registered in 2019.

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Marry and abandon: The NRI game plays on in absence of strong laws

The numbers

What are the laws

The legal loopholes

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