HYDERABAD: The National Commission for Women’s annual report for the year 2018 emphasises the urgent need to look at how women in the State have been affected by NRI marriages. At least 36 cases with regard to disputes in NRI marriages were reported in one year’s time to the Commission in Telangana.In fact, the State ranks 5th worst in country -- after Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Haryana -- when it comes to women’s security in NRI marriages. Apart from the aforementioned, another 138 cases were reported across the State on a wide range of issues --from sexual harassment at workplace to domestic violence and dowry.
Regardless, a major chunk of cases were that of disputes in NRI marriages, said the report. These disputes manifest in various ways: husband abandoning the wife in India and leaving for another country, applying for divorce and child custody in foreign courts, domestic abuse overseas and others. The most recent case in Telangana saw a man engaging in domestic abuse and leaving his wife in Hyderabad after confiscating her certificates. This was reported to the commission only the previous week.
Experts, meanwhile, point out that NRI marriage disputes are especially tricky for the commission to deal with as the ‘NRI’ is governed not only by Indian laws but also by the laws of other countries -- in some, where domestic laws are not as stringent as in the country.
Stating an example of a case from Telangana, former State Commission for Women chairperson and NCW advisor, Dr Tripurana Venkatratnam, said that in several cases, the husband might marry the wife in Telangana under pressure or for dowry, leave her in the country and move abroad. The husband would then apply for a divorce in foreign courts, where proceedings are much more lenient.
“A court abroad may send out a notice to the wife based on a false address given by the husband. When they dont get a reply, they may go ahead with the divorce proceedings as marital laws are much more flexible in other countries. This would leave the women without a chance to argue her position,” said Tripurana Making good use of loopholes, spouses have also falsely gotten custody of the children.
She further said, “Even if the woman gets to know that she is getting divorced, it would not be feasible to hire an attorney in a foreign State, let alone travel to another country for the same.”The commission has now advised the Centre to make registration of NRI marriages mandatory within 30 days.