According to a recent story by A Current Affair, a Sydney-based Indian-origin young man, Knawal, wants his Melbourne-based wife Naina to be deported back to India after their marriage unravelled.
The couple is separated and Naina has officially requested Punjab Police that the dowry her family paid for their marriage should be returned.
“All I want, give me back whatever my parents paid in this wedding and whatever my parents gave you, just give me back.”
Kanwal claims his wife’s demands are what initially caused some friction and things got worse after Naina received permanent residency in Australia.
He further claimed he also received a call from one of Naina’s relatives while they were visiting India. He told A Current Affair:
“Saying I’m impotent and I’m not keeping Naina happy and he’s going to file a case against me. I was shocked I was absolutely shocked. I can tell you I’m not impotent.”
Naina filed a complaint against her husband with the Punjab Police and it included a request for the husband to repay the wedding dowry and compensation.
Kanwal flew to Sydney to visit a doctor who gave him a note confirming he was not impotent.
Now Kanwal’s family told A Current Affair that if they don’t front up to face the allegations, they could lose their family home in India in order to pay the compensation.
As per Australia’s deportation process, permanent residents and certain New Zealand citizens who are not Australian citizens can be deported if:
- convicted of certain serious crimes and received a prison sentence; or
- considered to be a threat to the security of Australia.
A person whose visa has been cancelled on the grounds of not meeting the character test may have a right to judicial review.
Molina Swaroop Asthana, a Melbourne-based lawyer and activist, says publishing such personal disputes is not the best way to deal with them.
Ms Asthana wrote on social media:
“Honestly, how can Channel 9 air this story as current affairs? It’s just a couple airing their dirty laundry in public to get back at each other. Channel 9 makes it sound like there were massive issues including dowry and deportation but it’s nothing more than a nasty spat between a couple.”
She adds that as a lawyer see has seen worse things in many communities and such unnecessary story in national media only shows “Indians in a bad light.”
