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RUNAWAY GROOMS 
Director: Ali Kazimi A man with permanent resident status in a western country like Canada is an attractive candidate for Indian families seeking to arrange a marriage for their daughters. In a growing number of cases, the joyous wedding photos undermine an elaborate extortion scheme being orchestrated behind the scenes. Grooms, in collusion with their families, are demanding additional cash dowries with their wives' visa dangling in the balance. A woman whose family is unable to meet the demand is abandoned and publicly disgraced. Errant husbands are inadvertently aided by the Canadian judicial system which grants quickie divorces, often without the bride’s knowledge. To date at least 10,000 women in India have been exploited by a combination of social customs, foreign law and greed. RUNAWAY GROOMS follows two women who are fighting back in the courts and in the media. |