No precise data on vanishing brides: Govt
India applies for membership of Hague Convention to collect evidence from abroad against NRIs harassing brides.
India has applied for membership of the Hague Convention that will make it easier to collect evidence from abroad against Non-Resident Indians harassing brides for dowry and abandoning or divorcing them, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said on Thursday.
"We have already moved (an application) for membership of the Hague Convention... The Netherlands has sponsored our application," he said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Accession to the Hague Convention would make it easier to collect evidence from abroad for speedy settlement of cases in courts, he said.
Besides, there would be no need to sign bilateral agreements with countries like the US, the UK, Canada and Australia where incidents of vanishing brides and abandonment had been reported the most.
The General Body of the Hague Convention has to approve India's membership, he said.
The Minister said 89 complaints of Indian women being deserted or divorced by their overseas Indian husbands have been reported to his Ministry this year.
Last year, 65 cases were reported, he said.
"Complaints are also received in the Ministry for Women and Child Development, the National Commission of Women and the National Human Rights Commission. Thus, precise data on the number of cases of vanishing brides abroad is not available," he said
