The Minister of State (Independent charge) for Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Jagdish Tytler today affirmed in the Lok Sabha that some cases of abandoning of brides by NRI husbands have been brought to the notice of Government. The action taken so far has been to request the State Governments to take remedial measures including creation of separate cells to provide free legal counseling for the prospective brides, he added. Indian diplomatic Missions render all possible assistance to such cases.
One case each from West Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, and three cases from Delhi have been brought to the notice of the Ministry. Of these, the cases of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and one of Delhi are sub-judice. Two cases of Delhi and one of Haryana are of Consular nature. In one case of Punjab, relevant details have been sought.
In a Statement in reply to a question by Shri Subrata Bose and Sh. Hiten Barman, Shri Tytler further said that as per a media report, twenty bogus Indian brides, three husbands and a genuinely married couple of fake wedding fixers have been convicted and sentenced to total of 35 years for running a lucrative marriage business between Indians seeking entry into the UK and British passport holders of Indian origin. The report also mentioned that some of the fake weddings took place in Britain, while others occurred in India over a three-year period starting in 2000.
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(Release ID :8091)