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Court halts NRI brothers' remarriage

Satinder Bains in Chandigarh

Two non-resident Indian brothers from Punjab have been restrained from remarrying by a court in Chandigarh following allegations that their family tortured the elder brother's wife for dowry.

The parents of Gurmeet Singh and Balwinder Singh, natives of Ludhiana district who are now based in Chicago, had advertised in newspapers seeking brides for the two.

But Chandigarh resident Jasdeep Kaur petitioned the city's junior division civil judge that she had married Gurmeet according to Sikh rites on January 18, 1998. But when there was difficulty in her migrating to the US in March 1998, her in-laws arranged a fake court marriage with Balwinder, Gurmeet Singh's younger brother, who holds a green card, Jasdeep alleged.

Jasdeep said she delivered a male child from Gurmeet on December 6, 1999, in Chandigarh. She then went abroad in March 2000, but soon her in-laws began torturing her and demanded Rs 1 million as dowry.

Jasdeep returned to India once in December 2000, but went back to the US in March 2001. "I was tortured, beaten and abandoned by Gurmeet Singh," she told the court. Soon she informed her parents about the harassment and returned to India on June 28, 2001.

Jasdeep's mother Baljit Kaur said that on seeing the advertisement for the marriage of the two brothers, they decided to move court so that no other family would be cheated like their daughter.

She said they had also informed the US embassy about the two brothers. It has become a practice with some NRIs to fleece innocent girls and divorce them to remarry, she added.

The brothers have reportedly refused to receive the court's summons for the next hearing on August 2. The judge has ordered status quo with regard to Gurmeet's marriage.

Indo-Asian News Service

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