Bride buying in India is the practice of forced arranged marriages through human trafficking. Brides are commonly referred to as "paro" (from the far side) or "molki" (one who has a price) within this framework. The brides are sold by their parents to human traffickers who transport and sell them within relatively wealthier regions of Northern India. The desire for a male child and subsequent female infanticide has resulted in a significantly lowered sex ratio within India, creating an abundance of unmarried men in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Western UP. These men resort to purchasing inter-region women from impoverished communities mainly to continue their family lineage. The key motivation for low-income families to sell their daughter is to receive financial compensation and avoid having to pay a dowry. Major sources are the impoverished parts of Northeast India (Assam), Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh., Danish Raza "When Women Come Cheaper than Cattle" (23 March 2014) Hindustan Times <www.hindustantimes.com>.Bride trafficking must stop now, Deccan Herald, 2 February 2019., Aarti Dhar "In Male-dominated Haryana, Rajasthan, Cross-regional Brides are Deprived of Rights" (18 October 2016) The Hindu <www.thehindu.com>., United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Current Status of Victim Service Providers and Criminal Justice Actors in India on Anti Human Trafficking (2013) at .
Progressive panchayats, khaps, and activists have been lobbying the government for the protection of the legal rights of molki brides by mandatory marriage registration and for the extension of government benefits of inter-caste marriages.
Brides Brides are usually women from impoverished areas, some reported to be as young as ten years old. Women are often motivated to escape undesirable economic situations. There have been reports of manipulation and abductions, Kamal Kumar Pandey Female Foeticide, Coerced Marriage & Bonded Labour in Haryana and Punjab: A Situational Report (10 December 2003) at . by traffickers who promise higher standards of living and wages in wealthier areas.
Women are sold at prices based on physical appearance such as health, age, beauty, and virginity. The prices range from 5,000 rupees ($70 USD) to 40,000 rupees ($550 USD).M Shafiqur Khan "Bride Trafficking within India" in Veerendra Mishra (ed) Human Trafficking: The Stakeholders’ Perspective (SAGE, India, 2013) 47 at 48. For the bride, marriage often means the end of their agency, freedom of movement, and access to education, United Nations Population Fund Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage (2012) at . as traditional gender roles require maintenance of the marital home and caregiving of her in-laws. Due to the physical and mental underdevelopment of most brides, they are susceptible to serious health problems arising in pregnancy and childbirth; the leading cause of death among women aged 15–19 in India and other developing countries., Kamal Kumar Pandey Female Foeticide, Coerced Marriage & Bonded Labour in Haryana and Punjab: A Situational Report (10 December 2003) at .
Despite undergoing traditional marriage rituals, trafficked brides struggle to be fully accepted in the community and regularly face discrimination due to the ambiguity regarding their marital status and are deprived of property rights.
Bride shortages have seen re-emergence of fraternal polyandry where one woman is shared with of the husband.Alix Dolson "Intergenerational Prostitution in India: How a Cultural Practice Constitutes Sex Trafficking" in Margaret Alston (ed) Women, Political Struggles and Gender Equality in South Asia (Palgrave MacMillan, UK, 2014). Karewa (widow remarriage) refers to the practice of marrying off the bride to the brother (or sometimes the father) of a deceased husband.M Shafiqur Khan "Bride Trafficking within India" in Veerendra Mishra (ed) Human Trafficking: The Stakeholders’ Perspective (SAGE, India, 2013) 47 at 85.
Modus Operandi of Arranging Marriages
According to the research sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy at Delhi, the Molki brides are arranged for marriage in 4 ways: Brides acting as marriage mediators, husbands of molki brides arranging brides for family and friends, marriage brokers also known as Dalals, and trafficking of women for forced marriages though this is not as prevalent. Molki brides face color discrimination, racism, slurs, social isolation, and related mental health issues. Among molki brides, cases of those who are trafficked are rarely reported and they find it difficult to obtain justice. Families of trafficked women often do not report it to the police because many people believe it to be the solution to the skewed sex ratio in India.
Causes Buying Brides For the men of backward castes like Jats, Rors, Ahirs, and Yadavs there is a severe shortage of women. Rich men can easily find a local bride within their caste; however the disadvantaged men in these castes, who are mostly poor and do not own land, are the ones who must seek a bride using alternative methods. This phenomenon has now spread to lower castes and Indian Muslim communities.
In India, feticide, infanticide, and deliberate neglect of female childrenSonali Mukherjee "Skewed Sex Ratio and Migrant Brides in Haryana: Reflections from the Field" (2013) 43 Social Change 37 at 38. helped cause the sex ratio imbalance. Preference for a son stems from centuries-old patriarchal traditions which view women as financial burdens in a culture where property is passed down the male lineage and dowry expenses are expected to be paid by the bride's family.Sonali Mukherjee "Skewed Sex Ratio and Migrant Brides in Haryana: Reflections from the Field" (2013) 43 Social Change 37 at 41. Despite the prevalence of the dowry system across all castes and regions in India,Padma Srinivasan and Gary R Lee "The Dowry System in Northern India: Women's Attitudes and Social Change (2004) 66 Journal of Marriage and Family 1108 at 1109. un-wealthy men who cannot find a bride are willing to pay for a bride from an improvised background.Prem Chowdry "Crisis of Masculinity in Haryana: The Unmarried, the Unemployed and the Aged" (2005) 40 Economic and Political Weekly 5189 at 5195.
Selling Daughters
Impoverished families tend to be more vulnerable to selling their daughters for money, some of whom are led to believe their daughter is married to a wealthier man in a faraway place. Victim's families tend to be unaware that middleman resell their daughters to other states for a profit. Due to the dowry system in India, the bride's family gives durable goods, cash, and natural or movable property to the bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Due to India's skewed inheritance laws, the Hindu Succession Act needed to be amended to stop the routine disinheritance of daughters.When a feminist turns right , Rediff.com, 2 April 2014.
Domestic and International Laws The Constitution of India prohibits all forms of trafficking under Article 23(1), which states that "Traffic in human beings and begar [sic] and other similar forms of forced labor are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law." , Constitution of India 1949 (India), art 23(1). However, India has yet to implement comprehensive laws prohibiting the practice of bride trafficking. Despite explicit references to trafficking in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, it pertains only to commercial sexual activities in brothels and public places., Kamal Kumar Pandey Female Foeticide, Coerced Marriage & Bonded Labour in Haryana and Punjab: A Situational Report (10 December 2003) at . The law conflates prostitution and forced sexual exploitation, but fails to distinguish between the victims and perpetrators of the crime.
While bride trafficking is not explicitly prohibited in Indian law, it does criminalize many aspects of the practice in statutes. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 provides the legal age of marriage is 21 for males and 18 for females., The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 (India), s 2(a). On 11 December 1992, India signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child subsequently passing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, which was replaced by an act of the same name in 2015. The act protects children who have been sexually exploited or are at risk of sexual exploitation,, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, s 2(14)(ix). but limits the definition of child as "a person who has not completed eighteen years of age.", Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, s 1(14)(i). The act covers only some of the victims of sexual exploitation but it fails to account for those over the age of 18.
India is a member of human rights conventions which explicitly prohibit forced marriage, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979 (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC). The government of India passed domestic legislation in light of its international commitments such as the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Article 16(1)(b) of CEDAW states that women have "the same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent.", Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, article 16(1)(b). By contrast, the CRC does not explicitly refer to child-marriage, but it does have numerous provisions that discuss such topics. These include article 19 which states that a child has "the right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, guardian or any other person",, Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 19. and article 34 which provides for "the right to protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.", Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 34.
In the latest Concluding Observations on India (2014), Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India. the CEDAW recommended India amend the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act to include provisions that prevent trafficking of women,, Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India, at [23(a)] address the root causes of trafficking,, Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India, at [23(b)] ensure that traffickers are effectively investigated and prosecuted,, Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India, at [23(c)] and ensure victims of trafficking have access to victim support and witness protection., Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of India, at [23(d)]
Source and destination states Source states
The parents who sell their daughters as molki brides are usually from the lower socioeconomic strata of the under-developed or economically marginalized regions and states, such as Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal.
Destination states The destination states are generally prosperous North Indian provinces where the sex ratio is more imbalanced. Some of the common destination states are Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Western Uttar Pradesh.
Haryana