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SOCIETY
Consultation
on marriage to NRIs
New
Delhi: In a bid to work out strategies to address
the problems arising out of marriages of Indian women
to NRIs and to build necessary safeguards in this
regard, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs will
organise a day-long national consultation here on
Saturday. The consultation program will focus on working
out guidelines for helping the prospective marriage
alliance seekers as well to those already married
to NRIs to remain internally vigilant, verification
of antecedents and documents, adopting the right procedures,
knowledge of the legal and matrimonial rights of the
woman, maintenance rights, rights of custody of children,
provisions of Dowry Prohibition Act and legal provisions
pertaining to dowry deaths. Information and knowledge
about passport and visa procedures will also be provided.
The Ministry is working on a two-pronged strategy
- preventive and curative. As a preventive measure,
it is planned to undertake a widely publicized awareness
campaign about the need to verify the antecedents
of prospective NRI bridegrooms and their parents,
their employment, marital status, earlier marriage,
divorce and financial position. The curative measures
would include legal assistance, counseling through
ministry's missions and NGOs. In the country, going
to foreign countries is generally seen as `ticket
to prosperity'.
In
marriages also a sizeable section of country's population
looks forward to marrying to NRIs or going to foreign
countries taking marriage as a route. But for many,
this is a very deceiving affair and very often a significant
number of Indian women are made to suffer, in many
ways, after such marriages. Some typical instances
of such frauds include: Abandonment of woman married
to an overseas Indian even before the woman is taken
to the foreign country of her husband's residence.
After a short honeymoon, the man leaves, promising
to send a ticket soon. Most likely, the woman is already
pregnant when he leaves. So both she and the child
are abandoned. Woman reaches the foreign country's
airport only to realize that her husband would not
show up at all. Woman goes to the foreign country
but she is sent back or forced to flee. She is not
allowed to take her child along. In many cases, the
child is forcibly abducted from her. Woman learns
later that her overseas Indian husband had given false
information about his job, immigration status, earning,
property, marital status and other material particulars
etc. Demands for huge dowry both before and after
the marriage. The man whom the woman had married was
already married in the other country to another woman
and he continues to live with that woman. Husband
obtains an ex-parte decree of divorce in the foreign
country behind her back without her knowledge. Woman
is abandoned in the foreign country with absolutely
no support or means of sustenance or escape and without
even the visa to stay on in that country. If the woman
goes to court for maintenance or divorce various legal
obstacles related to jurisdiction of courts, service
of notices or orders, or enforcement of orders. Woman
is coaxed to travel to the foreign country of the
man's residence and gets married there. She later
discovers that Indian courts have even more limited
jurisdiction there. The Indian Society of International
Law, Department of women and child development, National
Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Women
and number of representatives from NGOs and several
other organisations are partners in the event which
will be held at the Vigyan Bhawan.
-Feb
17, 2006
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