Nepali girls sold as "brides" to old South Koreans

Kathmandu, Feb 15 (PTI) Unscrupulous marriage bureaus
are thriving in Nepal who lure young girls for weddings with
'handsome' Korean men, only to find out that they have been
cheated and married to males of their father's age.

A 22-year-old girl Dawa Sherpa, of Nuwakot district,
West of Kathmandu, who was pleased to get married to a
33-year-old South Korean handsome man realised after reaching
the country that she was actually married to a mentally
disturbed old man, fortnightly magazine, 'Himal Khabarpatrika'
reported.

Her marriage was arranged by a Kathmandu bureau, last
year. The bureau charged hundreds of thousands of rupees from
her for the arrangement. After she wept and rejected the
marriage, she was then married to the son of the old man.

These are the regular stories of those Nepali women,
who had spent over a million rupees in the hope of living a
comfortable life in an advanced country like South Korea, but
in fact destiny has cheated them badly.

Another girl Shanti Magar, 21, of Baglung district in
western Nepal, who was married to a 35-year-old Korean man by
paying Rs one million to the broker was handed over to a
56-year-old man after reaching the country.

Not only Nepalese, but poor girls from Philippines,
Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are also married to the Korean
men in the same manner and led miserable life. The women
married to old aged Koreans had to do all house hold works
besides satisfying their sexual needs.

The brokers, who used to traffic girls to Indian
brothels and Gulf countries for prostitution, are now lured
into South Korea. These Nepali girls, mostly belong to rural
Gurung community.

There are 38 such marriage bureaus in Nepal and 32 of
them are in Kathmandu alone and are operated by those Nepalese
who have returned from Korea after for 5-6 years of stay.

Until one and half year ago, almost one woman got
married to the Korean man in a day. According to Korean
Embassy sources here, every month some 30 women used to visit
the embassy to get no objection letter for marriage purpose.

But since December 2007, after the government adopted
strict regulations for marriage registration relating to
foreign nationals, the number has gone down considerably. Now
only 26 such marriage registrations have been made from
December 2007 to January 2008, according to officials.

Out of 22 Nepalese women living in Chhang Sang Namdo
of Korea as victims, two have managed to escape and return
Nepal. These girls usually face language problem as they do
not know Korean or English language.

The women who are sold to older men are even tortured
if she rejects the marriage. There are more than 300 such
brides reported to have been staying in Korea leading
miserable life.

But the Nepalese embassy in Korea has problem in
rescuing them as they have already acquired Korean
citizenship, says officials. PTI SBP
PMR
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