Bench Bar concern over NRI wives in distress

New Delhi, Feb 20 (UNI) Voicing concern over abuse suffered by many Indian women married to non-resident Indians or others settled abroad, judges, lawyers and activists have suggested a counselling or remedy system to which victims, including children, may turn.

The suggestions were among many made last evening at a seminar sponsored by a law firm and attended by a panel of India's senior Judges led by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.

But the presentations brought questions whether it was fair to assume men were always at fault or how a system saddled already with 30 million pending cases would deliver expeditious justice to victims on foreign soil.

Among speakers were Supreme Court Judges B P Singh, Delhi High Court Chief Justice M K Sharma and Judges Swatanter Kumar and Manmohan Sarin and National Commission for Women Chairperson Girija Vyas.

Vyas told audience about a call she got a few hours before ''from New Jersey'' from a woman turned out of her home at night by an NRI with whom she went to the United States last month after their marriage three months ago.

Vyas said she got in touch with some US-based group to provide her emergency assistance.

A published source estimates, the number of people of Indian origin living outside India at 18-20 million. Speakers gave no comprehensive number of victims.

Vyas indicated that the NRI Ministry has received possibly 2,000 to 3,000 applications, many from women abandoned even before leaving the shores, for whom the promised air ticket never came.

She said she has come across cases of victims from Punjab, Haryana and Kerala married to NRIs in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and Arab countries. They are often without money and travel papers which are held by their ''husbands.'' Some are even subjected to trafficking.

She dispelled the notion that victims might be uneducated women, saying they included doctors, engineers and even pilots.

The New Jersey woman, for instance, is a gynaecologist.

Vyas listed a number of Conventions, such as the Hague Protocol, which, she said, India must sign or ratify to be able to assist victims.

She also advocated need for strong laws, education, awareness and interaction between Indian embassies and host authorities to assist victims.

She cited how conducting seminars in some States had helped prevent a few marriages which might have resulted in problems.

Several speakers, including Justice Balakrishnan, pointed to the need to make people aware that they must check out the credentials of the NRI men before rushing into a match.

Justice Balakrishnan recalled how a friend's daughter was recently married away in a matter of a week. Parents sometimes worry about losing a good match and act hastily, he remarked.

Justice Singh recalled the tradition of a bride's family sending a barber and a brahmin to the bridegroom's village to gather relevant information on the match.

He suggested need to educate the public on the hazards of leaping without looking, but he also stressed against the tendency to interpret all marital discord as a crime.

''The first effort should be to save the marriage,'' he said, pointing out how victims of laws intended to protect women some times turn out to be women themselves.

He gave the example of anti-dowry 498A provisions, which sometimes mar complainants' prospects and put mothers-in-law in jail-- both of whom are women.

Justice Singh said solutions should come from the community of Indians settled abroad.

Justice Sarin saw the problem essentially afflicting India's ''lower middle class'' still lured by the temptation to travel abroad. He suggested that Vyas conduct awareness seminars abroad, too, to sensitise ethnic Indian communities there.

Justice Swatanter Kumar observed how unscrupulous individuals among NRIs took advantage of legal loopholes. He said India must take note of this serious problem.

Critics say loopholes are often found for clients by advocates but there is little by way of discipline applied against them.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told an audience last month about plans to put in place regulations to protect the interests of Indian women employed in the Gulf countries.

On cards is a policy under which women's immigration details may be given to the Indian Embassy concerned and job agreements required to include leave provisions for them to visit home once a year, he indicated.

UNI