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| Unpredictable NRIs abandoning their brides | | India, US can't ignore need for better coordination | |
NEW DELHI, OCT 18
With a visible growth in incidents of NRI (non-resident Indian) grooms abandoning their brides, a drive has been launched to persuade New Delhi and Washington to ensure better coordination in aid of damsels in distress.
US-based attorney, Anu Peshawaria, says she gets on an average 40 such cases a month. She has let it be known that Indians are not alone, she is getting a large number of cases from nationals of Fiji, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China and Afghanistan in the United States. A former Indian tennis champion, Peshawaria has been trying to provide legal aid to the victims of NRI marriage through her NGO, Sava, which has 40 branches across the US.
"Given the fascination of many to get married to NRIs, the incidents of brides being abandoned are growing alarmingly," said Peshawaria, who is currently in New Delhi to spread awareness about people's rights and to tell people marriage is not the only route to seek immigration to the US. "NRIs come to India and marry girls here either for money or enjoyment. They take hefty dowries and go away promising to take their brides along after a while, never to be heard from again," said Peshawaria.
According to Peshawaria, many times the woman lands in the US only to find that her husband does not show up at all, or learns later that her husband gave her false information about his job, immigration and marital status. She said: "Many a time they leave behind their brides in India just to look after their aged parents. Cases of husbands obtaining ex-parte decree of divorce without her knowledge are also on the rise. It is easy as many states in the US have very relaxed laws about divorce".
On an average, three out of five NRI marriages in the US are dissolved in less than a year and a large number of them do not cross two years, which is necessary to obtain a green card. "Many times, people have kids only to make it seem like a real marriage. This also creates a population of abandoned children because the husbands abandon women after they become pregnant as soon as they obtain some permanent status," she said.
There are around 18 million NRIs in the US, including illegal immigrants. For about 500 dollars one can get a divorce in the US in less than a week. The total number of NRI divorces in the US is over 15,500. With current laws there is large scope for fraud. Abandoned brides avoid going to the courts since they have no money to hire attorneys to fight their cases and get them their legal dues.
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