Marriage to an NRI could be passport to trouble

“We get around eight new cases per month on our helpline, from women who are being abused or beaten by their family,” says Merula Furtado, volunteer with Narika, aCalifornia-based helpline for South Asian women. Based in the US for the past 16 years, Furtado was in Mumbai last fortnight scouting around for voluntary agencies Narika could network with. “There are a 100 cases pending which we are working on.”

Lately, Narika has received an increasing number of cases of women being served divorce papers within a year of coming to the US. It is particularly easy in California, with its “no-fault” divorce clause which does not require both parties to consent. “The motivation here is probably dowry which is impossible to recover, once given. The woman has no choice but to return home,” says Furtado. “Under California law, if you are a citizen you could be deported if there are three offences against you. For non-citizens, even one offence is enough and wife-battering is an offence,” she points out. However, few women press charges against their families.

Many women who contact Narika are wives of H1-B (temporary work permit) visa holders, on contract withsoftware companies there. These women have H4 visas, which means they are dependent on their husbands and which does not allow them work visas or even student visas, she says. There are also women who have been married for 35 years, but who have no status in the country, because their visas were never renewed by their husbands who may be green card holders themselves.

“And it is not just executives, we even get cases involving vice-chairmen of companies,” says Furtado.

Then there are the second-generation women. Narika has had five cases this year of girls being tortured to enter into arranged marriages.

Surprisingly, the police there are wary of taking these cases seriously. “In most cases, they do not know the woman’s language and she may be unable to communicate in English. She may have called the police when she was being beaten, but when the police arrive, she may be pressurised to not make a complaint. But now there are laws that a report will have to be made even if there is acall, but no complaint,” Furtado explains.

Organisations like Narika and Maitri have now started giving the local police cards with questions translated in Hindi and Punjabi.While Narika is trying to network with agencies in Pune and Mumbai, it would like to have contacts in Punjab and Delhi. “We’ve recently had a spate of cases where young girls are tricked out of India to be married. We can use the law for them if they contact us but if we had contacts with a local agency, it could be in direct touch with the women,” she reasons.

Women going as wives/fiancees to USA should

* Participate in the community. Visit the library, explore the neighbourhood
* Keep phone numbers of your home, husband’s workplace, family in the USA, doctor, nearest hospital/temple/mosque/church/Indian consulate or embassy
* Keep a photocopy of passport, green card/ visa, and driver’s licence
* Take driving lessons and get a licence. The identity card from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)will be proof for address and age
* Take classes to acquire professional skills
* Learn the finances/how to operate a bank account
* Keep photos, invites, and videos as proof of marriage
* If you are being abused, tell your family, tell a friend or a neighbour, ask for help

Call on: Narika: 1-800-215-7308, Maitri: 1-888-862-4874
Narika, P.O. Box 14014, Berkeley, CA 94712. Tel: 510-540-0754. Fax: 510-540-0201. Email: services@narika.org Website: narika.org

>