I am not alone. There are more than 40,000 other women in India who are staring at an uncertain future after men who married them left the country, sometimes never to return or even make a phone call. For the women, the struggle is not only about dealing with a sense of abandonment, but also the trauma of liaising with local police officers, the ministry of external affairs, embassies and consulates across the world to bring their spouses to book.

The National Commission for Women recently said it received 2,846 complaints from women who had been abandoned between 2017 and 2021. The Standing Committee also noted that 5,298 complaints related to NRI marital grievances were received between January 2016 and October 2019. And between 2015 and 2019, the Indian government said it dealt with more than such 6,000 cases.

I have started a petition to appeal to the government to pass the Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha. I also request that fast track courts be linked up or established to deal such cases separately without any delay. And faster mode of investigation and filing of chargesheet in courts should be time bound.