Himachali girls getting married to state youths, NCW seeks probe
Tribune News Service
Ambala, July 23
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought investigation into a large number of Himachali girls getting married to youths in Haryana.
Talking to mediapersons here today, Rekha Sharma, a member of the NCW, said that thousands of girls from the Shillai area of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh got married to youths in Haryana in the past nearly 25 years. “The girls got married into small villages of Haryana and parents have no idea about their whereabouts. A large number of the girls belong to the SC/ST communities and several were minor when they got married,” she said.
“Someone is playing the part of a middleman. Otherwise, how people from villages in Haryana know about the marriageable girls in Shillai,” she said.
“A report has been submitted to the Centre in this regard and the government has to get the matter investigated,” she said. The NCW would soon meet the Himachal Chief Minister and discuss several issues, including the Shillai, with him, she added.
On fraudulent NRI marriages, she said after Punjab, a large number of cases of NRI matrimonial disputes were being reported from Karnataka. “The NCW and the Ministry of External Affairs are working on the issue and soon, there will be a new set of guidelines and a new law to save the girls from NRI matrimonial disputes,” she said.
On atrocities against women, she said, “Nearly 50 per cent cases are from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar and West Bengal, while Haryana is at the fourth or fifth place in the list of states where atrocities are higher.”
