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Preet (other)     25 February 2011

Forced Marrigae

Hello,


This is relating to a problem facing one of my friend Mannu, she is a German resident born 1987, she holds a german passport, she came to US in 2008 on a study visa to pursue an associate's degree, she was living at her maternal aunt's housein NJ, her parents looked up someone in the US (NY), who is a US citizen and came back to india in DEC 2009 where they took away her passport and all other documents and got her engaged to him without her will, she didn't know what to do and was succumbed to the pressure of going along with the enagagement ceremony, later they went back to the US and upon reaching the states all her documents were taken away by her realtives living in NY, they sent her back to NY where she started her studies, During her summer break in 2010 they called her back to NY and again pressured her and got her married in court with him, now since her studies are finishing in May 2011 her visa will expire as well and they are taking her back to India to perform the traditional marriage ceremony. What legal options does she have, please reply fast she is in dire ned of help and is even considering sucidie as an option.



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 9 Replies

Manish Singh (Advocate)     25 February 2011

Since the marriage has taken place in USA, laws of US, particularly of that State shall apply.

In india, forced marriage are voidable which means she would be having option to make the marriage null and void.

But since she has already been married at USA, she must get it nullified at USA itself. 

manjit kalra (system eng)     25 February 2011

shame on such a girl. how can they  marry a german born girl that too in usa, there is something hidden in this story.

1 Like

Preet (other)     25 February 2011

ok I don't know why u said shame on the girl, for it is her family that has forced her into a marriage, u need to be in her shoes to know what she has gone through, she was left with no money, no means of communication, no documents in a foreign land , what could have she done and not to mention the peer pressure of the family members, and the emotional and physical blackmail and torture she had to go through.

 

Either ways coming to the point, how can it be proved that the marriage was forced and what procedure will have to be followed, the problem is that sh is still in USA ( NJ ) and they are going to bring her back to India in May to get her married with him traditionally, what are her legal options and what path does she need to follow now cos they still have her documents and she is too scared to do anything on her own in USA, let alone go for a divorce, the last i talked with her she was adamant on coming back to India and then making a run for it and coming to me, but that can land me in a lot of trouble under different sections of the IPC and i already know that, also do let me know about the forced marriage being null and void, cos this is the first time i am hearing about this.

 

Thanks !!

manjit kalra (system eng)     25 February 2011

if she cannot do anything in usa , wat the hell she will do in india where women are supressed.

only one single remedy DIAL 911 and no one can force her .  

Preet (other)     25 February 2011

Well i have tried to tell this to her several times, but the amount of emotional and hysical torture they put on her has broken her completely, i even got in touch with an NGO working for women in NJ and they even agreed to help her, all she had to do was reach out to them but she is too scared to even do that, i am at my wits end and she dpoesn't want to think about any other option as well, which puts me in a situation where if I try to help her i will become a criminal in the yes of the law, and if i don't help her the there is  grave danger o her life.

Avnish Kaur (Consultant)     25 February 2011

law cannot help those who donot want to help themselves, not even god can help such ppl.

Preet (other)     26 February 2011

Ok so if she does get the marriage nullified in US will the marriage still exist in India ? and how long and expensive could the process be, also she has no documents, not even her passport with her what can she do to get the marriage nullified without a marriage certificate ?

Avnish Kaur (Consultant)     26 February 2011

best is to have it nullified in usa, if she does not have passport contact german embassy in india and also file FIR against ppl confiscating her passport.

you cannot help her unless she takes a tough stand agianst opression.

Avnish Kaur (Consultant)     28 February 2011

or she can contact german embassy in usa .


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