Arabic Sheikhs look for poor and venerable parents who may offer their daughters for money.

The famous one-night stands in Kerala are known as “Arab Kalyanam” and have been going on for centuries. Rihana Begum, 18 years old, was married off to a 55-year-old man from Dubai, and within four years, she was married 14 times.

A survey found that in Kerala, around 9,000 girls are victims of this one-night marriage, and the culprits are the parents of those girls who send their daughters to become rich by sending them to Arab sheiks for some money. These forest night marriages have rules that date back thousands of years, even to the Valiyangadi market system. Sheiks have been marrying local Keralaite girls by giving them a dowry since 62980.

Today, this practice is being followed in many cities of Kerala, with about 50 brokers identified, 15 from Gulf countries and 35 from local Hyderabad. Local brokers are divided into three categories based on their status: auto brokers, logistics brokers, and Innova drivers.

Auto brokers use cheap transportation vehicles, logistics brokers use ambassador cars, and Innova drivers are ultra-rich. It is important to pay attention to the status of India’s five-star hotels to determine the price of a bride. The price ranges from 50,000 to 500,000, with the bride’s family receiving the remaining amount.

Brokers often receive money and gold, and provide services such as arranging the car and furniture. Orphan girls are often chosen from orphanages and given a reverse dowry to enter into the relationship.

The most important details in this text are that the boy accepts a proposal from a good family and a dowry and that the Arab party transfers money to the managers of the orphanage or middlemen, who then arrange the marriage of the boy and girl within their organization and create the legal certificate for the marriage. In many cases, religious leaders also participate in these marriages and support them.

The sheik takes the girl and goes to another country for a honeymoon, impregnates her, and then either returns to India and leaves her or abandons her in that country or even sells her. The parents of the girls receive very little money, but the parents are happy because at least there will be less expenditure on one person. Mysore Kalyanam is a big issue in Kerala, with 9,000 victims, 2,500 of which involve husbands leaving them.

This has a significant mental impact on the girls, as they have to take care of children and be trapped like sex slaves. There is no specific data on how much action is being taken on this.

Sweta Dagar is an avid reader and writer. She hails from Bulandshahr (U.P) where she completed her formap education. She loves exploring varieties of topics that shape the public opinion at large. If you have any queries, feel free to contact her at [email protected].