A horrible wedding experience

Dear Laky,

I am an Indian citizen residing in New Delhi, India. I was married to a US citizen in December 2000, according to Hindu marriage rites and the marriage was performed in New Delhi, in the presence of his parents. I traveled to USA on a tourist visa and stayed with my husband and his family in New Jersey. I was verbally abused, harassed and treated badly by my husband and his family , during my two months stay in their house. They refused to register the marriage in USA , which was something they had promised in New Delhi at the time of marriage. Luckily I had a return ticket and I managed to escape and return to India to my parent's house.

My husband has now moved to a town called Palatine in Chicago, Illinois. I hope that you would direct my appeal to the appropriate authorities or at least be able to give me some leads or advice on how to punish my husband and his family for doing so much wrong.

Rachna

Dear Rachna

I'm really sorry to hear about your horrible experience, I can't imagine how hard this must be for you and your family. I'm not too clear on what it is you exactly want to do. It is also not clear whether you husband had begun the sponsorship process in the United States.

I am also not familiar with the immigration laws in the United States, however, you could write a letter to the immigration authorities in the United States explaining to them what this man and his family has done.

I'm not sure what they would do, but it might hinder any chances of him doing this to someone else. It would also definitely make it hard for him and/or his family to sponsor anyone to the United States in the future. I'm not sure what other 'punishment' you had in mind. If you want to take this further my advice to you would be to check the United States government website on immigration. This site maybe able to give you more information or at least send you in the right direction. Another option, again I'm not sure whether they will be able to help but they might be able to steer you in the right direction. I would try the American Embassy in Delhi, if they have one.

My heart goes out to you, but I think that you should also work at putting this behind you. You need to work through all your feelings of hurt and betrayal. While this is an unfortunate situation, don't let it consume you. I would also suggest that you speak to a professional counselor, if you don't get this all out now it will make it harder for anyone to get close to you later on.

I wish you all the best and hope that you find that special someone that is worthy of your love.


Laky