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Ludhiana: IELTS-qualified brides ditching spouses due to contract marriages, says expert
Panjab University sociology professor Dr Rajesh Gill, while speaking at a webinar at the Punjab Agricultural University, says the contractual nature of such unions is responsible for the dissolution of these “NRI marriages” where the brides have a good IELTS score and the men rely onthem for a spouse visa
With men increasingly using IELTS-qualified brides as a crutch to fulfil their dream of settling abroad, many cases of fraud and cheating have been filed against the women and their families after they snapped ties with their husbands on reaching foreign lands, citing “compatibility issues.”
Panjab University sociology professor Dr Rajesh Gill, while speaking at a webinar at the Punjab Agricultural University, says the contractual nature of such unions is responsible for the dissolution of these “NRI marriages.”
Blaming men for “clinging on women’s shoulders” after failing to clear the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam, which is mandatory for securing a visa, Gill said, “The men hunt for an intelligent woman with a good IELTS score. They invest money on her, hoping that she will realise their ‘foreign dream’. Later, when the bride faces compatibility issues and snaps ties, they cry fraud and blame the bride for not honouring the sanctity of marriage. However, the fact is that the whole foundation of contractual marriage is based on lies.”
“Instead of blaming the girl, this system of contract marriages needs to be abolished and the men should be made competent enough to clear any qualifying exam so that they do not have to use women as a crutch to fulfil their dreams,” Gill said, adding that around 3,000 Punjabi grooms, who had funded their wives education in a foreign country, but far from getting a spouse visa had been deserted by their wives, have collectively suffered a loss of around ₹100 crore.
PAU professor Preeti Sharma said that the seminar on ‘NRI Marriages: Issues, Challenges and the Way Forward” had been held in collaboration with the National Commission of Women, New Delhi, to review sensitive, crucial concerns pertaining to NRI marriages in Punjab and to forward solutions.
Dr Manoj Kumar, associate Professor, Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, said one should properly vet the groom before getting married and avoid illegal migration through the course of marriages. “Governmental as well as societal reforms are required to avoid such circumstances,” he said.
