Young NRI men in UK being forced into marriage

http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20100701/1247/twl-young-nri-men-in-uk-being-forced-int_1.html

British officials have been dealing with several cases of young Indian-origin women being forced into marriages against their will, but recent cases show a sharp increase of men facing such ordeals.

Britain has set up a Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) that deals with cases of British citizens being forcibly taken to the Indian sub-continent and married against their will for cultural, immigration or family reasons.

The unit has rescued several young women, but it is estimated that most cases go unreported. Latest figures show that during the last year, the unit registered a 65 per cent rise in the number of calls from men.

The unit received the most calls from men linked to Pakistan, followed by India and Bangladesh. It also received calls from British men with links to the Middle East, Africa and eastern Europe.

A spokesman said: “The calls we receive are the tip of the iceberg. It now seems likely that men account for one in five of all the forced marriages that take place to British citizens.”

In June, the FMU took a call from a young man in Leicester whose family had allegedly locked him in his bedroom after discovering that he was gay.

He told the FMU that his family were downstairs, discussing whether to take him to India and either kill him, abandon him there or marry him off.

Last year, the FMU gave advice and support to 1,682 men and women regarding suspected forced marriage.

More than 220 calls and emails involved male victims, up from 134 in 2008. As of the end of May this year, there have been 88 calls from men for help.

Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne said: “Boys and men who are forced into marriage find it harder to ask for help than women, but we are urging males affected by forced marriage to speak out and seek the help that is available to them.”

He added: “Of course, women make up the majority of forced marriage victims, and over 1,400 reports of women facing this abuse were dealt with by the FMU last year.

But people often don’t realise that men can be victims of forced marriage too.”

Young NRI men in UK being forced into marriage

Balm for men

ASK someone about the problems of women, and a list would emerge that would never seem to end. Ask about men’s problems, and you see only blank faces. Does that mean that men do not have any problem? Or is it that there is no awareness amongst the general public? Or is it just that men are simply taken for granted? If Uma Challa had her way, she would strive to bring in changes.

The All-India Men’s Welfare Association wants laws to be enacted to protect men from harassment

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100523/spectrum/main4.htm

Women empowerment project successful

Hello WCD, NCW and other feminists,

Looks like your Women Empowerment project is successful.

http://epaper. sakshi.com/ Details.aspx? id=383438& boxid=29635926

Translated version:Alleging that “We are given sleeping pills to make us
sleep so that she can enjoy her carnal pleasures. She continues illicit
relationship with others when our father is not at home. When told to mend
her behaviour, she, alongwith our father, necked us out. Save us from the
attrocities of our mother,” 3 children knocked the SHRC. K.Sravani(11) ,
K.Vani(9) & K.Renuka(7) from RTC Colony, Guntur complained to the
commission. And mentioned in the complaint that “Our father Chandrasekhar
works as Home Guard in Donakonda Police Station. Mom works as sweeper in a bank there. When our father is away on night duty, many people would visit
our house. When asked as to why she is doing so in front of the kids, she
threatened to kill us. Joining hands with father, she necked us out. We fear
that she & her paramour would kill us. She caused harm to our grandfather
who gave shelter to us. Save us from her and admit us in a school.”

Sakshi, Hyderabad city edition, Page 6.

Spent a lot on wedding? Show us proof: Court

Planning a lavish wedding? Just keep the tax-returns ready. A city court judge has asked a woman and her parents to disclose their source of money for arranging a wedding that reportedly cost them Rs 60 lakh, on Saturday. Moreover, the court refused to register a criminal case against the groom for accepting dowry in the absence of these financial proofs.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit said “Huge claims are made regarding giving of dowry which are sometimes are astronomical in nature as far as the financial condition of parents are concerned”.

Laviral Kalra (name changed) a resident of Anand Vihar, East Delhi got married to Pooja (name changed) in December 2008. Pooja alleged that her father, a property dealer spent Rs 60 lakh on her wedding, and also gifted a Maruti SX4 car to the groom.

Counsel for Laviral (who wished to remain unidentified) said, “The girl and her parents have not produced any financial documents to support their claims”. The court upheld his argument, and the judge said, “In these circumstances it is very difficult to ascertain whether this much amount was ever spent or any alleged demands were raised.”

The court noted that in matrimonial offences, it is essential to identify the source of money of parents who claim to host an expensive wedding. Pooja’s counsel argued that her parents literally “bowed to Laviral and his family’s wishes”, and the court should order criminal proceedings against him.

In the absence of financial returns or any other documents, the court dismissed Pooja’s counsel’s plea for registration of an FIR against Laviral and his family members.
http://www.hindusta ntimes.com/ rssfeed/newdelhi /Spent-a- lot-on-wedding- Show-us-proof- Court/Article1- 506462.aspx

Spent a lot on wedding? Show us proof: Court

Are American men any better than us?

For those who think the male torture is prevalent only in India, look at what happens in America:

A married lesbian couple decided to have children. A friend helped them conceive. Later, when the lesbian couple is getting divorced, the court ordered the male friend to pay child support to the tune of $1,000 per month, ha ha !

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/240960/dead_sperm_donor_ordered_to_pay_child.html?cat=7

Wife declares husband Dead for Pension

Indian women are great – they can go to any extent for their selfish motives. Wife declares the husband dead for getting his pension money and now the husband is running arond courts to prove that he is alive!

‘Dead’ man in legal battle to prove he’s alive

30 Dec 2008, 1632 hrs IST, PTI

http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/India/ Dead_man_ in_legal_ battle_to_ prove_hes_ alive/articlesho w/3913610. cms

KHARAR, PUNJAB: Sital Singh Bagi’s life sounds like a script of a Bollywood masala flick.

The 67-year-old ex-IAF man has been fighting a nine-year legal battle to prove that he is the “real” Sital Singh Bagi and not “dead” as his family had got him declared after he fled home allegedly to escape terrorists and did not surface for a decade.

A retired warrant officer of Indian Air Force (IAF), Bagi claimed he was settled with his family and owned a milk dairy in Delhi when three terrorists confronted him in December 1987 and asked him to join their group.

The terrorists threatened to kill him and a terrorized Bagi left his wife and four children at his ancestral house in Gurdittpura village in Patiala and fled, he claimed.

Bagi said he went to Orissa, where he spent 3-4 years, and then moved to Kolkata, before going to Dhaka in Bangladesh, where he became a priest at Gurdwara Nanak Shahi.

Bagi said he returned to his native place in December 1998 as he was “no longer afraid”, but his wife refused to recognize him and so did his children..

They also threatened him with “dire consequences” , if he again approached them, Bagi alleged.

He then went to the IAF authorities for release of his pension, but was shocked when he was told that his name was struck off the pension rolls and his wife was getting the pension after she produced a court decree declaring him dead.

Bagi moved a civil court in Rajpura in 1999 to get the decree declared null and void and for restoration of pension.

Though the court prevented Bagi’s wife from further withdrawing the family pension it reserved its order on the previous court decree pronounced in November 1996.

IAF officer incharge (Pensions) Wg Cdr P.R. Sudhakar said that Bagi had “reappeared” but his pension could not be restored till a decision on the civil suit comes.

In a statement filed before the court, the IAF officials had not disputed the identity of Bagi while Naseeb Kaur said that she cannot say that plaintiff is same Sital Singh with whom she got married.

Though Bagi’s claim was corroborated by Gurdittpura village sarpanch Mohan Singh and two other villagers in court, Bagi’s wife and children have yet to conclude their evidence.

Bagi’s counsel Rajinder Singh Raju said the case is in advanced stage and February 15 has been fixed as next date of hearing. “We have produced documentary and physical evidence beyond any doubt to prove that Bagi is alive,” Raju said.

Bagi also filed a complaint before Patiala police in July 2008 against his wife and sons seeking criminal action but the police asked him to pursue his case in the court.

Left with no source of income or shelter, Bagi is now being taken care of by one of his old service mates in Chamkaur Sahib, near Ropar.

“I procured evidence of several of my service colleagues and native village head, but I’m still waiting for the court order,” he rued.

However, Naseeb says, “I got married to Sital Singh and two sons were born from our wedlock but I cannot say this man is my husband or not.”

“My husband disappeared in 1987. I lodged his missing report with the police and after he failed to appear, I got a police investigation report certifying that he could not be traced despite their best efforts.”

Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini creates problems for married men

Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini is creating problems for married men. Wives are getting ever-new ideas to control their husbands……

Do people get justice in courts?

With 2.94 crore cases pending in the Indian courts, can people really expect to get a justice during their lifetime?

12/29/2008
http://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?b294f581 -f66f-459c-affb-c0518a3caf82

Supreme Court Judge S B Sinha said as many as 2.94 crore cases, including petty cases, were pending with the court till date.

Addressing a two-day inauguration meeting on the legal awareness programme on mediation, human rights and social development for judicial officers organised by A P State Legal Services Authority, Chittoor district Legal Services Authority in collaboration with the Department of Human Rights and Social Development (S V University),
the Justice said all the pending cases will be disposed by 2020 and the awareness training attended by judges from Andhra Pradesh will be useful to settle the cases early at regional level instead of the Supreme Court.

There is no civil courts in America and having only criminal courts but whereas 70 per cent of the cases belongs to civil and remaining 30 per cent are criminal and others are registering at various courts in the country while some of the cases including family cases can be settled at their village level itself with the assistance of police, he added.

All necessary steps have been taken to settle the cases through mobile courts in Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Anil Ramesh Dave said .

Among those who participated in the inaugural meeting were Andhra Pradesh High Court Judge and Chairperson of A P State Legal Services Authority Justice Meenakumari, APHLSC Chairman Justice D S R Varma and all District Judges of Andhra Pradesh.

UNI

Girl kills boyfriend with help of new boyfriend

These are the women we call ‘Abla Nari’ in my country – who go around killing their old boyfriends with the help of new ones….

Dehradun: An army official was stabbed to death allegedly by his former girlfriend and her companion at the hill resort of Mussoorie in Uttarakhand, the police said on Sunday.

Two persons — Aparna Shahi and her boyfriend Ankit Thakur — have been arrested for stabbing to death Sunder Swaroop Sharma, a Warrant Officer in the Indian Army. The murder came to light when the police discovered the blood-stained body of Sharma on Saturday at Hathipaon area of Mussoorie. On investigations, it was found that Sharma was having an alleged affair with Aparna, a student of a polytechnic college in Dehra Dun. When Aparna was grilled, she revealed that she along with her new boyfriend Ankit killed Sharma and threw the body into a gorge. She said Sharma was allegedly harassing her after she snapped relations with him last year. When the harassment continued, both Ankit and Aparna invited Sharma to Mussoorie where they killed the official with a khukhri, police said. The two would be produced before a district court for police remand on Monday. PTI

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnabangalore/newsview.aspx?eddate=12/29/2008&pageno=15&edition=9&prntid=572&bxid=27958344&pgno=15

Domestic violence claims men too

And they call it a man’s world? Indian men are victims of domestic violence too but can not even come out in open and cry like women do!

http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/Bangalore/ Domestic_ violence_ claims_men_ too/articleshow/ 3876342.cms

BANGALORE: Family problems are the cause of most suicides in the country. While the number of suicides increased by 28% over the last decade, they went up by 3.8% in the past year. Only 5% of these are attributed to financial
reasons while family problems triggered 23.8%, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) which recently published the 2007 statistics.

Members of the Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) on Monday drew attention to these statistics, which also show that every year, the number of men committing suicide is much higher than that of women.

More married men (57,593) committed suicide last year than married women (30,064). “In 11 years, 1,56,000 married men killed themselves due to domestic violence. Yet, the government doesn’t feel the need to protect
them. Society ridicules them as weak and irresponsible and cites financial reasons as the cause of their suicide. Also, there is a hue and cry when women commit suicide and the husbands’ family is dragged to the police station on suspicion that they must have forced her to suicide. For men, there is hardly any investigation, ” said Anil Kumar, secretary, SIFF.

The organization urged the government to set up a men’s welfare ministry and a national commission for men to study the problems, allocate a men’s budget, provide homes for those trapped in domestic violence, among other things.

Members of Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), a sister concern of SIFF, identified that men not allowed custody of their children was also an issue of concern leading to stress and depression among divorced men and, in some cases, suicide.