Protect NRI brides

TRAGIC stories of unfortunate women who are often cheated by unscrupulous NRI husbands on the promise of a better life are not uncommon. The government wakes up to the grim reality of “nowhere brides” every now and then. Effective solutions remain elusive; it is now being proposed that these marriages be registered with the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It is a step in the right direction. It may not necessarily bring both legal and financial relief to deserted wives; but as the government itself has admitted, that it’s a starting point. One can hope that it paves the way for more radical changes, such as the compulsory registration of marriages, a demand which has been long felt.

Nevertheless, well-begun is half done. The present move, coupled with the formation of an integrated nodal agency involving the key ministries of external affairs, law, home and women and child development, can help keep tabs on NRI grooms. Hopefully, this should become the nodal point and one-stop grievance cell for young women seeking legal recourse. NRI grooms who use marriage as a tool to cheat and dump unsuspecting spouses soon after they tie the knot can’t be let off. Recently a nine-member committee under Arvind Kumar Goel made a number of useful suggestions, including the need for compulsory registration of marriages and impounding of passports of cheating NRI grooms. The government appears to be inclined to accept the Goel committee recommendations. 

While women need a strong legal framework, society, especially parents of would-be-brides, too have a role to play. By now every Punjabi village is familiar with the phenomenon of runaway NRI grooms. Yet families fall prey to the allurement of groom’s foreign land. Often the brides’ families abet the greedy calculations. Wedlock is a bond that needs to be cherished and should not become a passport to destination nowhere, as is happening right now with thousands of young women.