NRI cell of NCW to focus on marital disputes and transnational marriages

After receiving a barrage of bizarre complaints, the National Commission for Women (NCW)'s NRI cell has decided to go niche and only focus on marital disputes and transnational marriages.

The apex women's rights body has come up with a list of "complaints not ordinarily entertainable" under the NCW (Procedure) Regulations, 2016 for the NRI Cell.

WEIRD COMPLAINTS MADE TO NCW

"The cell of late has been receiving several weird complaints from women living abroad. We have noticed that women associate a "sexual harassment" angle to the complaint and move to the NRI cell. Some women complained about property issues while others said they were being harassed by their neighbours at home and colleagues at work," said Rekha Sharma, member, NCW.

"It becomes very difficult for us to deal with such complaints as the focus on martial disputes, and women abandoned by their husbands gets diverted in entertaining such complaints."

Sharma said the panel has written to the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to help women in distress in other countries as the NCW finds progress difficult in such cases since it has to go through the embassies.

THE RECENT CASE

For instance, the commission is handling the case of a woman from Mohali who was married to a man living in the US and following a fight with her he allegedly forcibly took their baby and left her in India.

NCW's list of "complaints not ordinarily entertainable" comprises grievances that are illegible or vague, anonymous or pseudonymous, matters not related to marital disputes, involving NRI/PIO couples, matters not related to cross-country marriage issues, etc.

It also does not usually focus on civil disputes between the parties such as contractual rights obligations, division of property, service matters, labour or industrial disputes, civic issues and matters which that are sub judice.

HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT NCW

The NRI Cell was formally started in NCW in 2009 to deal with complaints received from India and abroad resulting from cross country marriages involving any deprivation of women's rights or any issue causing grave injustice to women.

Since its 2009 inception, 1691 complaints have been registered till March 31, 2014, in the commission. During the year 2013-14, 375 cases have been registered in the NRI cell of the commission.

A year earlier, in a meeting of several ministries, the NCW and National Human Rights Commission decided that the panel would be the coordinating agency to process complaints of Indian women deserted by their Indian husbands abroad.

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