Fake Jain Brides on Rise

By: Imran Gowhar
Bangalore


What seemed to be a marriage made in heaven, turned out to be a shocker for a recently wedded man, as he was taken for a ride by a marriage bureau that had more to it than meets the eye. Jeetesh (26), married Divya (20), in March through a community marriage bureau. All was well until recently, Chagan Lal, Jeetesh's father noticed scars of a cesarean section on Divya's belly. On questioning, Divya confessed that she is not a Jain and hails from a Maharashtrian family. She used to odd jobs to support her eight-year-old son from her previous marriage, and her aged mother.

Staged and scripted
Then she met Shanti Lal who promised to arrange her marriage into an affluent family. He trained her to act like a woman from the Jain community and gave her new name. As the twisted tale unravelled, Divya informed the family that the people who they met while fixing the wedding date were, in fact, an elderly couple hired by the marriage bureau to pose as her parents.

The agitated family approached the court with a complaint and got directions issued to the local police to investigate into the matter. This consequently led to the arrest of five persons running the bureau in Majestic area. "We tracked down prime accused in the racket Shanti lal, along with Hasmukh Lal, Madan Lal, Sanjay and Roopesh through mobile tracker. During questioning, they informed that they charged a commission of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for each marriage they fixed," said PI Shiva Kumar from Chickpet police station.

The police were shocked to discover that the gang targeted the Jain community for alliances as the male-female ratio is skewed. They had recently brought three more women from Mumbai promising to get them married into affluent families.

How it works?
"They women are first trained for a few months to develop their language skills and to adopt the accent of the community. The brokers then arrange fake parents and have them pose as affluent members of the Jain community from Mumbai," said Kumar.

During further questioning, Shanti Lal revealed that the gang had arranged four such marriages in Bangalore and Rajasthan. Ironically, those marriages are successful and the women are doing well, Kumar, who verified with the address, said.

"We have booked the three women and their parents as witnesses and send them back to Mumbai. They will be summoned to the city to testify before the court against Shanti Lal and others involved," Kumar added. "The police have arrested six members of the group for cheating under Section 496," said, S N Siddaramappa, DCP (west).

Rs 5 lakh The fee that the bureau charged for the marriage they fixed.

News Courtesy: Mid-Day