A 'holiday marriage' plan of Britain-based 60-year-old NRI went
awry Thursday when the Punjab police took him into custody after
his Indian wife complained of cheating.
The wife, Harjinder Kaur, 42, and activists of the Lok Bhalai
Party (LBP) filed a complaint with the police after which the
house of NRI Malkiat Singh in Model Town here was raided.
Kaur, a divorcee, claimed that she got married to the NRI four
months back with hopes of settling herself and her two children
aged 18 and 13 years.
The marriage was fixed at the behest of a local marriage bureau
here. The wedding ceremony took place in a gurudwara in Moga,
150 km from here.
Kaur claimed that the marriage bureau forced her to sell her
house worth Rs.1.5 million for just Rs.750,000 and took the money
from her for marrying her with the NRI.
She said her NRI husband later refused to get the marriage registered,
saying that he had done this only for his holiday trip in India.
LBP general secretary Ramandeep Singh Bharowal said the NRI told
LBP activists, who confronted him, that he was not married to
Kaur.
The police took him into custody.
