GWALIOR: An NRI woman has claimed that she has spent Rs 9 lakh in vain to obtain a marriage certificate in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, in the process having to come to India three times.
She also said she was asked to pay a bribe to a clerk for her marriage certificate earlier.
District collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh said the issue was being investigated and assured help to the NRI woman.
Anupreet Kaur (40), who got married to 26-year-old chef Navjot Singh Randhawa last year at a gurdwara in Gwalior, said she was a Canadian citizen and had taken an emergency visa to come here this time.
"We have been married for more than a year now but have failed to get a marriage certificate. I am a Canadian citizen and I spent Rs 9 lakh coming to India three times for this certificate. This time I took an emergency visa for the certificate. I have produced all the documents asked by them," she told reporters.
She has produced a letter from the Canadian Embassy but is now being told to bring another one by being shown a letter format of the Argentinian government, she claimed.
"Last time, I was asked by a clerk to pay a bribe and I had complained to the then Additional District Magistrate (ADM), who had warned the employee concerned. Now, they are not making any demand but they are not issuing the certificate either," she claimed.
When queried on the issue, Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh told reporters he is not aware of it.
"Marriage certificates are issued by the ADM office. There may be some technical issue. I will look into it and try to help," he said.
In charge ADM HB Sharma told reporters he was given the charge of this section only a month back, adding that the woman had never met him.
He added he would look into the matter and help the woman.