‘Contract marriage’ frauds on the rise in city; 12 cases in a month : Ludhiana
Rise in cases where grooms’ foreign dreams have been shattered after their wives, whom they marry for the sole purpose of procuring a spouse visa, have disowned them upon reaching foreign lands, especially in rural areas of Ludhiana
Cases of complaints against women for duping their grooms on the promise of a spouse visa are on the rise. In the past one month, 12 such cases have been reported from Ludhiana Rural, Ludhiana city and Khanna. The police have been asked to investigate such matters in a time-bound period and to lodge FIRs.
Seven out of 12 cases were reported from Ludhiana Rural police. Three cases were reported in Khanna, while two cases were reported in Ludhiana city.
Kaustubh Sharma, inspector general of police (IG, Ludhiana range), said it’s a new trend that people have adopted to send their children abroad. After their sons failed to clear IELTS or were not qualified enough to go abroad themselves, they used to look for a girl who had cleared IELTS.
The IG added that both families used to decide that the family of the man will bear all the expenses of sending the girl abroad. In return the girl will take the ‘groom’ abroad on a spouse visa. After reaching abroad, they further decide whether they want to live together or part their ways.
“In some of the cases the families of grooms complained that after reaching abroad the girls had stopped taking their calls or refused to take their husbands on spouse visa, which is a serious matter,” said the IG.
“One can easily notice the advertisement in the matrimonial columns of newspapers, which read as ‘groom wanted for a girl with 7 bands in IELTS’, which is a clear indication that the marriage will be on contractual basis,” he added.
The IG added that in such matters the women are from humble families, and they can’t afford to bear expenses to go abroad. They used to adopt contractual marriage to go abroad. In some cases when promises were not fulfilled, the men approach police to lodge FIRs. They have sped up investigation in such cases to deter the trend.