The Bride Market Of North India - A Kibosh On Personal Liberty

Sanjum Bedi, Assistant Professor, Amity Law School, Amity University, Haryana

ABSTRACT

The phenomenon of ‘Bride Buying’ in Haryana is conclusive of the inadequacy of brides for marriage in India. Being prevalent in the state of Punjab during the pre-colonial period, it is now a common feature of rural areas of North India, especially in the states of Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan.1 Due to rampant female foeticide, brides are being purchased by males from economically backward areas such as the eastern and southern parts of India. The total population of Haryana as per the 2011 census is 25,351,462 of which males and females are 13,494,734 and 11,856,728 respectively.2 The sex ratio in Haryana has worsened in the last 30 years and this has led to an increase in the practice of buying brides. This is not a new trend. It has been going on for the last five decades. According to the 2011 census, Haryana recorded the worst sex ratio in the country — for every 1,000 boys, there were only 830 girls in the state.3 Haryanvi men are procuring brides by paying between Rupees 35,000 and Rupees 1.50 lakh. The price depends on their social status, beauty, marriage status, and education, and are treated as chattels. The brides are derogatively called ‘Paro’ or ‘Kharidi hui’ or ‘Mol-ki-Bahu’.4They are bought from Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and also Nepal to the transit points in Delhi, Palwal, Karnal, Kalka, and Ambala and sent onwards to the ‘buyer husbands’.

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report of July 2019, which is issued by the State Department of the United States, India has been placed under the Tier-2 category in the list of countries.5 This implies that India is making attempts to curb human trafficking through legislative and constitutional means but despite these efforts is unable to control it.

Keywords: Brides, Trafficking, female foeticide, marriage, census, sex ratio