Rent wife for Rs 8,000 a month in Gujarat

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Rent wife for Rs 8,000 a month in Gujarat

[sunday, June 18, 2006 11:52:21 pm TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

SURAT/VADODARA: You might have heard of rent-a-womb, but who ever

heard of rent-a-wife! Certain people, especially in tribal belts of

Gujarat, have smelt an irresistible business opportunity in the

skewed sex ratio in the state.

If many tribal daughters are being sold in marriage, there are also

reports of husbands agreeing to their wives staying with higher

caste men, who are not able to find a wife in their own community,

for a monthly rental.

In Netrang taluka in Bharuch, police officials quote the recent

instance of Atta Prajapati allowing his wife Laxmi to stay with a

Patel in Mehsana for a monthly rental of Rs 8,000.

Laxmi has two children back in Netrang, and used to work as a farm

labourer at Patel's farm. The demand of brides fuelled by the

dwindling number of girls in Mehsana, Patan, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and

other districts has inspired many agents and poverty-struck families

to capitalise on the situation and make a quick buck.

In certain pockets of Netrang, Valia, Dediapada, Sakbara, Rajpipla

and Jaghadia, Tribals from Vasava community families can be

witnessed entering into financial agreements with brokers,

called 'Vachetias' from Banaskantha, Mehsana and Ahmedabad districts

to marry off their daughters to Patels or those from the Thakur

community for a price.

The broker charges anywhere between Rs 65,000 to Rs 70,000 from the

Patel and then pay the Vasava families Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 for

their daughters.

Many " middlemen " operate in the tribal heartland to supply tribal

girls for Rs 500 and Rs 60,000, depending on how poor and desperate

the girl's family is. With the demand being high, a committed agent

easily makes Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh every month.

" We cannot take action against this activity as no one comes forward

to lodge a complaint. We do not rule out the possibility of minors

being married off to the rich Patels, " said Ankleshwar DSP, Naresh

Muniya.

The business of selling brides is also going international. In

Godhra, Heer Baria's marriage to Kalpesh Patel is talk of the town.

Not because Heer had married an NRI from the US, but because her

family was suspected to have taken Rs 1 lakh cash for the marriage.

" After the marriage, the Baria family is missing from the district.

We think that they are living in Surat, " says Mohan Baria, a

community member.

Activist Kanu Brahmbhatt concedes that many tribal families in Chota

Udepur and Devgadh Baria get more than Rs 50,000 for marrying their

daughters to men from other communities, especially from North

Gujarat and Saurashtra.

(With inputs from Radha Sharma in Ahmedabad)

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