‘Band girls

‘Band girls’ have played the ‘band’ of hundreds of homes in Punjab. The boys, who have become slow, are no longer moving here or there. Most of the families who did ‘arranged marriage’ to settle their places abroad could not board the plane. New cases of ‘band girls’ are coming in NRI police stations every day. In the past seven years, 277 cases have been received in these police stations, in which the band girls themselves paid for the expenses of the groom’s family to reach abroad, but again broke the relationship with the ‘arranged husbands’. According to the details, there are 15 NRI police stations in Punjab in which 277 families have complained that they have been cheated by ‘band girls’ from January 2017 to August 2023. Most of the cases in NRI police stations have been resolved amicably. 29 police cases have also been registered against ‘band girls’.
The number of cases registered in ordinary police stations is much more than this. It may be the fault of any party but this phenomenon is tarnishing a sacred bond like marriage. R. I Police Station Ludhiana (City) received maximum 150 complaints during these seven years, out of which five police cases were also registered. 19 complaints were received in Moga’s NRI police station, 16 in Mohali police station, 15 in Bathinda, 13 in Amritsar and 12 in Ferozepur police station. During the year 2022, maximum 62 complaints have been received in these police stations which were related to ‘band girls’. Thugge is the story of many houses, where the land is gone, the life is gone. These families gambled in a way that didn’t pay off by taking on debt and selling land and property.
When a young man from Goslan village of Samrala came to know about the fraud, he lost his life. A Thanedar of Ludhiana found a band girl to send his son abroad, took a loan and sold a plot to pay for his daughter-in-law’s education. After going abroad, the daughter-in-law stopped picking up the phone. The police officer has now filed a case against the daughter-in-law. Similarly, it happened to a family of Kameana village of Faridkot. A police constable here found a girl with a band to send her boy abroad. Took all the expenses of the girl. This family is also cheated. The policeman himself has also left this world and his son has not survived. A boy from Dhanula (Barnala) had committed suicide when he and his family were diagnosed with Jaggon Terhwani.
The boy’s father had spent 25 lakh rupees on the girl. The boy from Moga’s Bughipura village reached abroad, but before he was matured, his wife filed a divorce case. There are hundreds of such cases, all of which have the same story. Since ‘marriage of arrangement’ has started, expert mediators of these marriages have also started doing business. For ‘spouse visa’, families are struggling to settle their sons abroad. Police officials say that where the boy is cheated, in most cases the girl settles by promising to return the money. On the other hand, the boys who fail to get the band in the ILS exam, they start dreaming of ‘arranged marriage’ and fly away, most of them succeed.
What is ‘arranged marriage’!
Who has forgotten the ‘arranged marriage’ in Punjab? The girls from the needy families who get good bands in the required IELs examination, the boy’s family bears the entire cost of the girl’s education under an agreement with them, in return the girl has to marry and get the boy settled abroad. Now, advertisements are published in the newspapers, ‘A girl with six bands needs a boy, who can bear the expenses of education and marriage.’
Details of cases received in NRI police stations
Number of cases registered with applications received during the year
2017 27 Zero
2018 50 zero
2019 31 03
2020 30 05
2021 40 17
2022 62 04
2023 37 zero