They married for a life abroad but they never saw their husbands again

Thousands of Indian women have been abandoned by men working overseas, leaving them trapped in their in-laws' homes and often defrauded of dowry money

Like many other women in the state of Punjab, long a hub of emigration from India, Samira* (not her real name) aspired to marry an Indian working abroad and follow him to a more prosperous life overseas. On January 13, 2014, she thought her dream had come true. That day, in a temple, she married Dhruv*, who'd just returned from Italy, and moved in with his family.

After a few days, though, her in-laws began demanding about $US10,000 so her husband could resettle in Canada. When she failed to secure the money, they starved and beat her, according to a police complaint that did not result in any charges.

Eight weeks after the wedding, her husband went back to his dairy job in Italy. Samira never saw him again. "The days turned into weeks and then months," she says at home in the village of Fateh Nangal. "And my eyes kept searching for him."

Samira is far from alone in her misery. Tens of thousands of Indian women have been abandoned by husbands working abroad, according to government officials and activists, trapping many of them in their in-laws' homes in accordance with local social customs, even for decades.

Some women who have been left behind by husbands are victims of the unfulfilled promises of changing circumstances. Others, however, have been subjected to outright deceit, their families defrauded of dowries, honeymoon expenses and visa payments.

There are few specific legal remedies available to women whose husbands flee, and pursuing the men under more general laws can be difficult if they are abroad. In 2018, eight women filed a petition with India's Supreme Court in an effort to press the government to enact policies to deal with what they called a widespread problem.