: Justice for Mandeep Kaur: Why India Needs to Break the Silence Around Abused NRI Wives #IndiaNEWS On 3 August, Mandeep Kaur, an Indian origin woman living in New York, died by suicide. In

Justice for Mandeep Kaur: Why India Needs to Break the Silence Around Abused NRI Wives #IndiaNEWS
On 3 August, Mandeep Kaur, an Indian origin woman living in New York, died by suicide.

In a video she posted before her death, she said she was abused by her husband, Ranjodhbeer Singh Sandhu, for eight years. The Kaur Movement, an online portal that aims to raise awareness around violence against South Asian women, shared the heart wrenching video on social media.

In the video, Mandeep tearfully highlighted how her husband would hit her after drinking, and sometimes even without, while having extra-marital affairs. She went on to say that her in-laws didn’t help her.

She is survived by two kids.

Mandeep’s death has, once again, put a spotlight on the plight of NRI wives.

Posters for the protest demanding Justice for Mandeep Kaur in New York

Staying in a foreign land, many are trapped in fraudulent marriages or abandoned by their husbands.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, one NRI wife calls back home to seek help every eight hours. And as per a report in Economic & Political Weekly (EPW), the MEA has received 3,955 complaints of domestic abuse from NRI wives from 2017-2020.

EPW also notes that a whopping 50,000 criminal cases have been filed in NRI marriages under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty). The maximum number of cases has been filed in Punjab, where 32,000 NRI brides have filed FIRs.

The National Commission of Women (NCW) has received 30,865 complaints as of March 2022.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Japneet Singh For New York (@japneetsinghforny)

The major reason for complaints includes the right to live with dignity, domestic violence, dowry, rape, and extramarital affairs.

Most of these women hail from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Gujarat. A 2018 report by SBS Punjabi says that more than 25,000 women were abandoned by their husbands.

How are organisations helping?

The Kaur Movement has been fighting for the rights of NRI women who are victims of abuse. A protest was organised outside Mandeep’s husband’s house demanding justice. Several Punjabis and other Indians participated in the protest. The Kaur Movement has also been in touch with the NYPD to ensure that Mandeep’s body is sent back to her parents in India, her children are rescued, and that action is taken against the husband.

According to a post shared by the Kaur Movement, the NYPD is investigating the case as a homicide, not suicide.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Kaur Movement (@thekaurmovement)

Similarly, several foundations are fighting for the rights of NRI wives.