`Holiday'
grooms to be charged with rape:
Chandigarh, Jan 28, 2005
IANS
Punjab Police plans to crack down on non-resident
Indian (NRI) bridegrooms who don't take their wedding
vows seriously by charging them with rape.
Reacting to the rising number of sham weddings initiated
by NRIs with local girls, the state police have decided
to tack Section 376 (rape) on to the complaint if investigations
find that the 'groom' had no intentions of getting married.
Said Inspector General of Police Sanjiv Gupta: "NRIs
who come here to enjoy a holiday marriage can be checked
by this charge."
NRIs who leave their wives and families in the lurch
here would also be declared absconders and would have
to face extradition from countries where they are settled.
"We received about 70 complaints against NRIs
who married here and deserted their brides last year
alone," Gupta, who heads the NRI cell in Punjab
Police, told IANS.
Complaints have been lodged against NRIs in 39 cases
while in the remaining cases both parties either agreed
to compromise or opted for court settlements.
Grooms fleeing abroad without a backward look at their
brides are a common story here. The wives, and offspring
born to them, are generally left to fend for themselves.
Police officials said the real number of desertion
cases by NRIs could even be about 10,000, as many of
the affected parties did not come forward to formally
complain.
Every year, a large number of those settled abroad
head for Punjab, looking for daughters-in-law or brides.
A majority of these are from Britain, Canada, the US,
Europe and the Middle East.
Some travel agents and marriage touts are also reportedly
involved in this cheating trade.
Millions of people from Punjab had migrated to Western
countries between 1940 and 1975. In many cases, the
migrated men continued to send money regularly to the
families left behind.
"The spouses left here keep hoping that one day
they would go abroad," a police official in Hoshiarpur
said.
In many cases, the NRIs were found guilty of bigamy.
While some marriages to foreigners were genuine, most
were for a green card or foreign citizenship.
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