Flight of NRI grooms

NRIs often make fake grooms. This much can be easily deduced from the agonising tales of NRI men deserting and harassing their wives. Hundreds of complaints are recorded by the National Commission for Women each year though actual figures of “nowhere brides” are much higher. Some time ago, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had tasked a nine-member committee under Arvind Kumar Goel to examine what legal and regulatory relief can be provided to the deserted wives. The Goel committee has made a number of useful suggestions like the compulsory registration of marriage, recording of relevant details of NRI grooms as well as higher financial assistance for brides. The special provision to impound or cancel the passport of offending NRIs, however, is fraught with many practical difficulties. Indeed, this particular measure may not work in favour of abandoned brides. The deportation of erring husbands from the countries of their domicile also may not be all that easy.

Nevertheless, as a society we must be able to appreciate the urgency of the need to 'arrest' the flight of NRI grooms who forsake their wives without a thought and often without money. The “victims of marriage”, left to fend for themselves by their unscrupulous spouses, invariably have nowhere to turn to. In Punjab, the same sad story plays itself out in village after village, town after town and studies put the number of such distressed women at around 20,000. The abandoned women are denied marital rights, turned away from marital homes and at times served divorce papers via post by absconding husbands. “Abandoned” wives need the support of the family and society. 

The NRI Sabha and other players have been demanding a new legal regime to deal with the problem. While stringent laws can certainly help and a web portal can be helpful, would-be brides and their families too need to take off rose-tinted glasses with which they view NRI grooms and their glamorous lives abroad. All that glitters is not gold.