Indian brides’ families still pay dowries of up to £20,000 to some British men

Thousands of new brides in India are being abandoned by their British Asian husbands after they are married.

Despite this, there is evidence to suggest that Indian women are continuing to fall for British suitors.

In a dusty village in the Jagraon district of Punjab, northern India, 35-year-old Suman (which is not her real name), lives with her widowed mother in a small room in a crumbling building.

Four years ago, the secondary school teacher married a British man in a wedding arranged by relatives.

Shortly after the ceremony, her husband, who is in his 50s, left for London with the promise he would send for her. At first all appeared to go well.

“He would visit two to three times a year.

“Whenever he came to India, we had a good time,” she said.

However, on one visit he claimed her application for a spousal visa to the UK had been refused.

It was like being a prostitute you take along and have a good time with and then leave behind ‘Suman’, 35

“He told me he had applied for an appeal.

“But he has never shown me a copy of that appeal. He’s never shown me any documents.”

The visits and calls ended, and for the past six months Suman has had no contact with her husband.

“In hindsight, it was like being a prostitute you take along and have a good time with and then leave behind.

“When he returned to England, there would be no communication. A month before he was due to come back, he established contact again.

“Many a time I let that pass, thinking he might be busy, but now I get the feeling that I was being used all this time.”

In the bustling city of Chandigarh, lawyer and women’s rights activist Daljit Kaur has dealt with many similar women who have been deserted by their husbands who live in the UK, Canada and the US.

“There are 15,000 to 20,000 abandoned brides in India,” she said.

Daljit Kaurs thinks up to 6,500 British men may have left brides in India

In India these women are called “holiday brides” and Mrs Kaur believes British Asian grooms account for a third of all such cases.

In the village of Rurka Kalan, in the Doaba region of Punjab, an area that has strong links to Britain’s Indian community, I was taken to a local community centre, a bare single-storey concrete building.

There I was staggered to discover up to a dozen women huddled together, clutching their marriage documents and wedding photographs.

The youngest of these “holiday brides” were barely out of their teens.

A pretty girl dressed in a shalwar kameez (tunic and trousers) had married a man from Coventry, central England.

She said: “He did not give me any reason, why he did this.

“I came to know later through relatives that he did not want to stay married to a girl from such a poor background.”

The eldest was a 41-year-old lady who was deserted by a Glaswegian man more than 20 years ago.

She handed me a scrap of paper with an address scrawled on it, urging me to trace him for her.

Not one of these women had re-married. They said their lives had been ruined in this socially conservative part of India, where divorce is frowned upon. Many are forced to depend on relatives for financial handouts.

After marriage, they physically and mentally tortured me ‘Rani’, 25

But Indian women are still falling for British suitors.

Jassi Khangura, a businessman from London and now a politician in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, says Indian families are obsessed with emigrating to the UK.

“People are desperate to migrate, because they don’t think this land gives them the opportunities they need, particularly for girls,” he said.

Rani, (not her real name) is one such 25-year-old is hoping for a better life in the UK. She got married in January.

“When the marriage date was fixed he asked for around £12,000 so my parents sold our house, to give him the money,” she said.

In India, paying and accepting a dowry - a centuries-old tradition where the bride’s parents present gifts of cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom’s family - has been illegal since 1961.

But the practice still thrives in rural areas, and a British Asian groom can command a dowry of up to £20,000 in Punjab.

After Rani’s marriage, her in-laws demanded more cash, but her parents could not pay, and she was dumped.

“After marriage, they physically and mentally tortured me.

“He made me abort my baby, then they threw me out of their house.”

Balwant Ramoowalia said fraudulent husbands should be sent to India

Rani still wears her wedding bangles in the hope that she will one day be reunited with her husband in England.

I managed to trace Rani’s husband in England. He claims to have left her after discovering she had a boyfriend who she continued to see after they were wed.

Another “runaway groom” I located in England claimed he was duped by his Indian bride, who only married him for a British passport.

UK matrimonial expert Tahir Mahmood helps arrange marriages, and believes British men are the victims.

“Anyone from back home (India), they want British, British, British… the girls over there, don’t care if someone has been married twice before, they don’t care how he looks like or what his background is.”

The British government’s Forced Marriages Unit says it has been dealing with a rising number of forced marriage cases involving British men.

In India, legal action against missing British grooms is a complex and lengthy process.

Clampdown sought

Inspector General Gurpreet Deo, from the Punjab police force, said: “If the person is residing abroad, one has to seek recourse through the extradition treaty.

“The expertise and knowledge of the police officers themselves in this area is so restricted, I don’t think any case would reach that level.”

But politician Balwant Ramoowalia, of the Lok Bhalai party in Punjab, believes both India and Britain should clamp down.

He said: “If there is any misconduct, cheating or fraud, the husband should be sent back to India.

“There should be a provision that maintenance should be given to the girl till the case is final.”

The Home Office in the UK says it has not received a single extradition request in relation to abandoned Indian brides.

Meanwhile the Indian government has set up a department to provide assistance to the thousands of women who live in hope of being reunited with their husbands.

A Leeds couple who both work as refuse collectors and are taking part in the city’s bin strike fear they may have to cancel their wedding.

Robbie Clare and Josie Martin plan to get married next May but say they may not be able to afford it if the strike continues past Christmas.

The couple, who met at work, are among hundreds of workers involved in the 10-week industrial action over pay.

Talks are being held with the city council to try to end the dispute.

Ms Martin said they had initially thought the strike would only last two to three weeks.

“It has been awful really. There are money worries with it being so close to Christmas and our wedding.

“If the strike continues we may have to think about cancelling it.”

I just hope the lottery comes up or something Robbie Clare

Mr Clare said: “My friends ask if it’s going ahead and I just have to say that I hope it’s going to happen.

“We don’t want something like this to ruin the biggest day of our lives so we have just got to knuckle down and think everything is going to be ok.

“I just hope the lottery comes up or something.”

The couple’s average days consists of getting up about 0600 GMT, taking Ms Martin’s youngest daughter to school, then joining striking workers on the picket line.

Mr Clare said: “It’s very boring.

“Ten weeks now seems like a year to me. It’s just dragging. I can’t even do the garden because the waste bin is full.”

Sticking together

Ms Martin said despite the impact the strike was having on their lives they were determined to see it through to the end.

“We have got to stick together and that’s what all of us have done,” she said.

Workers walked out in a row over pay on 7 September.

A new offer by the council was rejected last month after unions said some of the productivity targets which formed part of the deal were unachievable.

During talks on 2 November, the council’s leaders agreed to review the targets.

The deal offered by the council would mean an annual pay cut of £231 for refuse collectors, instead of the £4,491 salary drop they originally faced.

Mark Owen’s ceremony is to be held in a 14th Century castle

Take That singer Mark Owen is expected to wed his fiancee Emma Ferguson at a ceremony in a village’s parish church.

The couple’s wedding in Cawdor Church, near Inverness, is due to be followed by a reception at Cawdor Castle.

The castle venue has been the ancestral seat of the Thanes of Cawdor since the late 14th Century.

Owen, 37, from Oldham, is one of four members of the Brits award-winning former boy band along with Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Jason Orange.

The band reformed in 2006 - more than a decade after splitting up. There has been talk of a reunion with fifth member Robbie Williams who parted company with the others in 1995.

When the band split up, Owen enjoyed limited success as a solo singer. His first two singles, Child and Clementine, both reached number three in the chart but he was eventually dropped by record company BMG.

He enjoyed a short chart revival after he won the second series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2002.

Owen and Ferguson, a TV actress, have two children, Elwood Jack and Willow Rose.

The couple with the decorated polystyrene wedding cake

A newlywed couple have been awarded £310 compensation after finding their wedding cake was made of polystyrene.

Bride Aimee West bought the three-tier sponge cake decorated with white and dark chocolate icing and flowers for their reception near Llanelli.

But just before she and new husband Tony cut through a layer of chocolate white polystyrene was found underneath.

Creative Cakes, which said there had been a mix-up, was told to compensate the couple by a small claims court.

Mrs West, 27, said: “It was a terrible shock - I felt so embarrassed in front of all our family and friends.

“It was a lovely occasion and the ceremony was going to be the icing on the cake - only there was no cake.”

The couple were wed in Cyprus a week earlier then flew home for their reception at a hotel in Pembrey.

We could have asked for compensation for cutting the cake in front of all our guests but we wouldn’t be able to put a figure on that Aimee West

They said when they ordered the cake they paid £270 up front to confectioners Creative Cakes.

But just four hours before the evening reception was due to start Mrs West said she discovered the cake company had forgotten to bake it.

She said: “They admitted their mistake and said ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get you a cake’.”

“They turned up that evening and the cake was put on a table for all to see.

“We were just about to cut it when someone discovered the cake people had left four layers of sponge cake in the hotel reception.

“That set alarm bells ringing and when my mother checked the cake she found it was made of polystyrene.”

District Judge Marjorie Taylor gave Creative Cakes three months to repay the couple plus their costs.

Refund offered

Mrs West said after the case: “We are delighted to have been given our money back.

“We could have asked for compensation for cutting the cake in front of all our guests but we wouldn’t be able to put a figure on that.”

Karen Williams, who runs Creative Cakes from her home in Llanelli, blamed it all on a mix-up.

She said: “By the time Aimee contacted me it was too late to make the proper cake.

“I would never have the time to bake a cake and ice it in that time.

“I explained I would be delivering an artificial cake - they are quite common at weddings these days.

“I offered them a refund so there was no reason to take me to the small claims court.”

The redevelopment has seen the creation of new seafront restaurants

Boscombe is on a big mission to improve its rundown image and attract a new crowd of visitors all year round.

The Dorset town’s centrepiece is the multimillion-pound artificial surf reef, the first of its kind in Europe which, it is hoped, is set to enhance the quality of waves and improve surfing conditions.

The seafront promenade has already been redeveloped, a new boutique hotel is welcoming its first guests and owning a slice of a luxurious apartment block could set you back £1m.

But are developers forgetting what is already there?

The £11m redevelopment of Boscombe seafront has already run over budget, with the artificial surf reef almost doubling in cost from £1.4m to £3m and opening more than a year late.

‘Falling to pieces’

Steve Kent, of Boscombe Traders’ Association, said that some of the extra money Bournemouth Borough Council had used in the project could have been spent on updating the town centre.

“The principle is a brilliant idea,” he said.

“The work that they have done to the seafront is great, although it could have been done a lot cheaper.

Traders want more investment in the town centre Surf reef opens after year delay Have surf reefs worked elsewhere?

“What we have is an old 1960s precinct which is 40 years out of date, it needs upgrading because it is slowly falling to pieces.”

Lisa Northover, a councillor for Boscombe West, and runs website Boscalicious to promote the town.

She moved to the town 10 years ago and said when she used to look out of her window she would see open drug taking and prostitution.

“I have seen such a massive improvement already from it,” she said.

“There has been a lot of new, really high quality businesses that have come to the area. It’s just so different to 10 years ago.

“I think some people are willing it not to work, but you can see it working.

“So many people away from Boscombe have heard about it, people see it as something special.

“What I am expecting to see is more of a year round impact. We are already busy in the summer and are more likely to see people coming in the winter.”

An affluent surfer market will be attracted to the area, extending the tourism through winter Mark Smith, Bournemouth Borough Council

David Kilburn, head of business development at Bournemouth University, said the reef development would draw in a “hotchpotch” of people.

But he believes social problems still in the town need to be contained and eradicated or it will risk impacting on tourism.

“[The project] is creating a lot of impact,” he said.

“Bournemouth itself is very busy in the summer even if the weather isn’t good.

“I think the surf reef will continue to draw people to that part of Boscombe beach area. People will want to go down there and check it out.

“I don’t think necessarily the people coming in will pose any problems.

“The issue is one that we have always had, there are some socially disadvantaged people living in that area and they have to be careful that they help those people, rather than having drunks around the beach, drug addicts openly taking drugs.

“It needs to be contained and eradicated and the only way to do this is to help these people.”

Mark Smith, director of tourism with Bournemouth Borough Council, said that the reef met expectations even before it was even completed in terms of regeneration and attracting new businesses.

“A great amount of both public and private money has been invested in Boscombe and this would not have happened without the reef,” he said.

“An affluent surfer market will be attracted to the area, extending the tourism through winter…rather than the trade having to rely on the traditional period of July and August.

“Compared to other artificial reef projects in the world, we have gone so much further with the Boscombe reef as it is so well-supported by excellent facilities on land.”

Another big tourism project on the south coast widely criticised for being over budget and behind schedule was Portsmouth’s 170m (558ft) Spinnaker Tower.

In 2005, Portsmouth City Council finally opened the long-awaited structure, which depicts a billowing sail.

The Spinnaker Tower is attracting 100,000 visitors a year

The project, originally due to open for the Millennium celebrations, was five years late and cost £36m, more than £11m of that being footed by the taxpayer.

But it has been a success, attracting 100,000 visitors and bringing in more than half a million pounds a year.

“It has become an icon of the south coast and it has drawn the city together,” said Portsmouth councillor Lee Hunt, cabinet member for culture and leisure.

“The lesson that I could give would be to get behind this project, make it work and find ways of making it work.

“It is a ripple-effect, how to build on the success and how to best utilise the success.”