188 cases of fraudulent marriages by NRIs in 3 years

As many as 188 cases of fraudulent marriages by NRIs, including 46 in the current year, with a maximum of those from the United States have been reported in Indian missions during the past three years, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs V K Singh said a total of 139 such complaints have been received against NRIs from the United States in the past three years, including 25 in the current year. The number of complaints of fraudulent marriages against NRIs have also come from Canada and the United Kingdom, where 11 and 8 cases were reported respectively in Indian missions this year.

The Minister said during the last three years, as many as 22 cases have been reported from Canada while another 13 have come from NRIs in UK.

The Minister said the Indian missions take action in such cases by providing assistance in the form of financial help for legal procedures, counselling and taking necessary action as per the need and requirements of the case.
Singh said the Ministry implements the scheme for giving legal/financial assistance to Indian women deserted by their overseas Indian/foreigner husbands through empanelled NGOs and legal organisations. Such assistance, he said, is provided through missions/posts in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Gulf countries.