Cases against NRI husbands on the rise

June 12, 2010

Hyderabad: The state police records an average of 80 cases every year of NRI husbands harassing their wives. In fact, as many as 30 such cases have been booked in the first four months of 2010.


According to CID officials who deal with cases registered against NRIs, a majority of the accused are white collar professionals including software engineers, doctors and management sector employees. According to CID IG S Umapati, about 90 percent of the accused are from US, followed by UK and Canada.

The majority of the cases registered against the NRI husbands have been under section 498-A (subjecting married woman to cruelty). The other sections include, 420 (cheating) and dowry prohibition act.

In the year 2009, a total of 87 cases were registered against NRI husbands in state, 34 non-bailable warrants, three look out circulars and four red corner notices were issued. About 90 percent of these cases have been registered in the city.

According to the IG, who is also an interpol liaisoning officer in the state, issuance of red corner notices had a positive effect on solving the dowry harassment cases involving an NRI husband, as most of them had been forced to come to India to face a trial. Two years ago, Interpol stopped issuing red corner notices

against accused in dowry harassment cases (section 498-A of the IPC). Prior to this decision by interpol, 19 such notices were issued in 2007.

However, even after the issuance was stopped, police are trying to bring the NRI husbands to book by trying to attach their property under section 82 (proclamation for person absconding) and section 83 (attachment of a property of a person absconding) of CrPC.

“We are also trying to extradite the accused as per section 105-B of the CrPC,” the IG said, adding that most of the victims return to their homeland to lodge a complaint as the marriage had taken place here and also because the concept of dowry does not exist in western societies. To prevent such tragedies, the IG said that people should do some basic background checks about the NRI bridegroom before marrying off their girls.

“Talk to the manager of the firm where the boy is working and also to at least two of his close friends. Send some of your people who stay in that country to verify the details. Take his passport and Visa number and be a lot more careful if he wants to marry very quickly,” the IG suggests.