I always thought Matrimonial sites were doing a commendable job.  After all, marriage is a must-have experience of life.  But when I heard about what happened with Puri uncle’s daughter; I thought it was necessary for my Indian female friends to know about the dark side of marriage through Matrimonial portals. 

Shweta was in her early 30s and not getting married.  Hence, someone suggested she found her match through one of the leading matrimonial sites.  In a short while, Shweta found one suitable guy from Nepal.  Puri family was not looking so much for the caste and community similarity, but wanted guy’s family background and financial status to be sound. They did everything possible to check all is well with the guy and his family.  They even went to Nepal to check the family background, in spite of all that… Puri family got cheated.

Marriage took place last year and just few months back Shweta discovered the guy was already married.  Shweta has filed for divorce but because the law in Nepal is different to Indian law, they are having problem.  Shweta’s life is in a rut now, and if that was not enough, all her gold and other belongings are still there with them.

Here is where marriages within the community or known families earns the brownie points; if alliance is from the community you can get all required details and avoid such unnecessary hassles later on. 

There have been numerous successful marriages through matrimonial sites and the sites will only tell you about them, but what happened with Shweta is also the harsh reality. This is not to discourage people from finding life partners through matrimonial sites, just a small piece of advice to be extra careful.  Play safe and in case your prospective match is not from your country, know the existing laws of that country,

Sometimes, a social networking site does the job of a matrimonial site.  One of my friends found someone like that but after hearing about all the kind of unpleasant things that happens on networking site, she was not sure.  So this girl befriended one of his online female friends, who used to message him often.  Eventually, found out all about her guy and was convinced that there is nothing to fear about.  Now they are together and happy… smart move!

Neha Skeletons in the Closet