NRI brides: Fooled, foresaken, forgotten

Over 1,600 Indian women abandoned abroad by NRI spouses in 5 years

Over the past five years, as many as 1,617 Indian women have been deserted by their Non Resident Indian husbands abroad, says the Ministry of External Affairs in Parliament leaving them to face trauma, isolation, and legal limbo. Known as NRI brides, these women have nowhere to turn for support.

For 28-year-old Simran Singh, a resident of Kharar in Punjab’s Mohali district, the dream of a happy life abroad ended just months after her wedding in November 2022. Her husband, an  Non-Resident Indian (NRI) living in Canada, returned alone in January 2023 after a brief honeymoon in India, leaving her behind with promises of paperwork and visa processing that never materialised. By April 2023, the silence had stretched too long and the truth became undeniable: she had been abandoned.

“I felt invisible and disposable. But the pain didn’t end when he left it only got worse. I was suddenly alone, trying to survive each day while carrying the weight of betrayal. There were nights I cried myself to sleep, wondering how everything collapsed so quickly. I had to pick up the pieces on my own, in a world that no longer felt safe or familiar,” Singh tells Media India Group.

Singh is one of the thousands of Indian women caught in the devastating reality of abandonment by NRI  spouses—a crisis largely ignored, often silenced, and consistently underreported.

Abandonment by NRI husbands is not new. For years, Indian women particularly from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala have been lured into cross-border marriages with the promise of better lives. Many families spend lakhs on wedding expenses, dowry, and visa arrangements, believing that an NRI groom is a ticket to upward mobility.

But for too many women, the reality is abandonment, often shortly after marriage. Some are left stranded in India, others in foreign countries without legal status or financial means. Many face emotional abuse, dowry harassment, or are subjected to exploitation before being discarded.

“For months, I waited hoping, crying, begging for a call, a message, anything. I was pregnant and still believed he would come back for us. But he never did. Not a word, not a visit. Then, one day, I received the divorce papers. Just like that no explanation, no remorse. It felt like I was erased from his life, as if we never existed,” Singh adds

“I have been raising my baby alone ever since he left,” Singh says quietly. “Not once has he tried to call, ask about our child, or even acknowledge our existence. He is living happily abroad, like nothing ever happened like we were just a chapter he could close without consequences. Meanwhile, I’m here, struggling every single day, trying to give my child a life with no answers, no support, and no justice,” she adds.

Singh’s story is far from unique. Across India, countless women have found themselves in similar situations married off to NRI men with dreams of a better life, only to be left behind, often within weeks or months. Some husbands never take their wives abroad at all, vanishing without explanation once the marriage formalities are complete. Others abandon their wives after reaching foreign shores and go on to remarry there, illegally and without consequence. These women are left in emotional, legal, and financial limbo—discarded without accountability, and with no clear path to justice.

Mehnaz Shabir a 31-year-old woman from Sopore, around 50 km from Srinagar, was married to an NRI two years ago. Her husband returned abroad soon after the wedding, promising to send for her. But instead, he cut all contact—and she later discovered he had remarried overseas.

“I kept waiting, believing his words, defending him when people questioned me. Then one day, I saw the pictures he had married someone else there, like I never existed. I felt shattered, like someone had stolen not just my future, but my identity. I still wake up hoping it is all a bad dream,” Shabir tells Media India Group.

What makes these cases particularly complex is the cross-jurisdictional nature of the crimes. Once a husband disappears abroad, legal recourse becomes a logistical and bureaucratic nightmare. Indian laws hold little weight overseas, and extradition processes are lengthy, complicated, and often ineffective.

Despite this, there is no centralised data system in India tracking women left behind in the country. The MEA has clearly stated that such records are maintained by individual state governments or Union Territory administrations, not at the national level. This fragmented approach makes it difficult to quantify the scope of the problem or develop targeted interventions.

Suriya Malik, an activist based in Delhi who has long advocated for the rights of  women, speaks bluntly about the systemic failures that continue to fail survivors.

“There is no real accountability. The fact that we do not even have a central database to track these women shows how invisible their suffering is to the system. Everything is fragmented—states maintain their own records, and no one sees the full picture. In addition, for the women who do try to seek justice? It is a nightmare. Filing an FIR itself becomes a fight, especially in smaller towns where the police often shrug it off as just another ‘family dispute.’ Court cases drag on for years, and by the time any progress is made, most women have already lost everything money, dignity, even the will to keep fighting,” Malik tells Media India Group.

Legal experts say that existing Indian laws are ill-equipped to handle abandonment that spans borders. While the government has previously proposed reforms such as making registration of NRI marriages mandatory or empowering Indian courts to summon accused NRIs via diplomatic channels implementation remains patchy.

Further complicating matters is the absence of enforceable bilateral treaties between India and several countries where these cases are most prevalent—like Canada, the US, and Australia. Without legal coordination, many abandoned women are left in limbo, unable to divorce, remarry, or even access basic spousal rights.

Survivors often suffer in silence, stigmatised by families and communities. Many are discouraged from speaking out, pressured instead to “move on” or keep the matter private to protect family honour.

In some states like Punjab, where cases are disproportionately high, grassroots organisations have stepped in to support victims. But such help is inconsistent and often underfunded. There is still no comprehensive, nationwide legal aid or rehabilitation policy for abandoned women.

What makes this crisis particularly cruel is that it often targets women who are least prepared to navigate international legal systems. Many are young, newly married, with limited education or English proficiency. They place complete trust in their husbands and in-laws, only to be manipulated, isolated, and finally, deserted.

For Singh and Shabir the trauma lingers long after the abandonment. It is not just the loss of a marriage it is the collapse of a future, the disintegration of self-worth, and the weight of stigma that follows them everywhere.

In 2022, the Indian government introduced a bill to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure, empowering courts to issue summonses and warrants to NRI spouses via Indian embassies. But enforcement remains a challenge.