Ludhiana woman sent abroad for spouse visa disowns husband, 3 booked

A man who had funded his wife’s education in Canada on the condition that she would eventually help him procure a spouse visa lodged a case against her, and her family on Wednesday after she refused to hold her side of the bargain.

The complainant, Jaskaran Singh of Sherpur Khurd village, had married the accused Gurleen Kaur in 2018.He had borne all expenses for sending her abroad on a study visa. However, Gurleen, allegedly refused to honour the deal once she reached Canada and said she will divorce him. Gurleen and her mother Sarabjit Kaur of Ayali Kalan village, and their relative Karan Grewal of Aasi Kalan village have been booked for fraud under sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Foreign dreams shattered

There has been an upsurge in cases where grooms’ foreign dreams have been shattered after their wives, whom they married for the express purpose of procuring a spouse visa, have disowned them upon reaching foreign lands over the last three months, especially in rural areas. The majority of the cases are lodged in Ludhiana rural, Ludhiana police commissionerate and Khanna.

Targets found in matrimonial columns

Senior superintendent of police (SSP, Ludhiana rural) Charanjit Singh Sohal says women aspiring to settle abroad often find their targets through advertisements in matrimonial columns of newspapers, which read along the lines of ‘groom wanted for girl with seven IELTS bands’— a clear indication that the woman is willing to help men who have been unable to clear the mandatory International English Language Testing System ( IELTS ) examination themselves to fulfil their ambition of settling in another country.

“There is mutual understanding between both the families that the groom will bear the expense for sending the woman abroad. Later, she will apply for a spouse visa for her husband,” the SSP said.

ASI scammed by daughter-in-law

It is not just men from rural areas who fall prey to women looking for somebody to sponsor their dream of studying in a foreign country, an assistant sub-inspector was also duped of ₹12 lakh by his daughter-in-law, who cut all contact with her marital family once she reached Australia.

In his complaint, the ASI, Roshan Lal, had said, “I had arranged for the accused’s visa, college fee, laptop and air ticket after selling one of my plots and taking a loan from the bank as she had promised to arrange a spouse visa for my son, Rakesh. However, the accused stopped taking our calls after the wedding was solemnised and she returned to Australia in February 2020.”

The accused’s father, Pardeep Kumar of Captain Colony, Meharban, was booked on April 3.