Law lacks punch, deserted women lose hope

Rachna Khaira in Jalandhar

A quick engagement followed by an extravagant wedding loaded with huge dowry, a honeymoon sponsored by the girl’s family to a dream destination. And finally, the NRI flies back and the girl waits endlessly for her visa to get united with her husband. While some NRI-deserted wives have turned into pariahs in their own houses, many have even committed suicide to prevent their families from further harassment in society as well as in courts. This is the sad plight of more than 30,000 NRI-deserted wives in Punjab and also those stranded abroad. Here are three cases: 

• Jalandhar-based Savita (29) stays in her one-room house along with her two daughters. All was well with her until she gave birth to her second daughter in 2004. She began to get allegedly harassed by her Dubai-based husband and her in-laws for bearing the second girl. Her husband went to the Philippines in 2011 and has never returned.

“They wanted a son…,” says Savita who earns a measly Rs 1,500 for working as caretaker in a nearby play school. “My parents take care of my teenage daughters,” says Savita, showing her photograph with her husband. The husband’s family has disowned him (only on paper) to deprive his wife and daughters of any property claim.

• For Hoshiarpur-based Kirandeep Kaur (35), life played a cruel joke. Married to US-based NRI Sarabjit Singh, she could not conceive a second time due to abdominal hernia. Though not chronic, her in-laws set a condition: agree to divorce or else they would not arrange her treatment. “My mother needed Rs 30,000 from my NRI father for her surgery. But my grandparents refused. As a result, blood poisoning set inside her body, leading to her death in 2012,” says her daughter Amanjot Singh, who was only 12 at the time.
• Chandigarh-based Navjot Kaur was barely 28 when she experienced the worst in her life. Her elder brother died, her father’s leg was amputated due to diabetes, she herself fought ovarian cancer, married a polygamist who had already duped around four women and also has a seven-year-old daughter.

Navjot and her California-based husband got married on February 5 this year. Jagjit brought her to Jalandhar. Instead of taking her to his house, he allegedly took her to a prominent hotel. “He kept me in the hotel for eight days where he would beat me up every day. He and his relatives put me on drugs,” alleges Navjot. Later with her support, the police trapped the accused at Delhi international airport.

These and more are among over 30,000 such cases reported in Punjab since 1995. Though Section 10 (3) of the Passport Act already has a provision for impounding the passport of NRI husbands in case of an FIR or a court directive, it is often not invoked due to lack of awareness and the cumbersome process involved.

Jalandhar-based advocate Puneet Sareen presents a case. Though he got court orders to get the passport impounded of a Barcelona-based Indian origin NRI, it is of no use until he either lands in India or uses his passport in foreign land.

“The proclaimed offenders (POs) declared in matrimonial disputes should also be brought under the ambit of extradition treaties. The POs do not come to India for up to 20 years,” says Sareen. Since so many Punjabis are living illegally in foreign countries, it becomes difficult for the authorities to track them.

Former MP and also a member of the Justice Goel Committee Balwant Singh Ramoowalia says new provisions will strengthen the existing law. “State governments can think of rehab plans for such women and their children. They can be given some financial aid and a job to begin their life afresh. The new law may take years to come about,” says Ramoowalia.