0:00:15 > 0:00:17For many British men with family roots in the Indian subcontinent,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20it's not that uncommon to head overseas for an arranged marriage.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23But what happens when those relationships don't work out?
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Well, the consequences for brides who are cast off by their British
0:00:26 > 0:00:28husbands can be devastating.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Many will be shunned by their own communities,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33and some are subjected to financial exploitation, domestic
0:00:33 > 0:00:36slavery and physical abuse.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39In this special programme, Chris Rogers meets outcast wives
0:00:39 > 0:00:42who open up for the first time about their painful experiences,
0:00:42 > 0:00:43and how they're trying to rebuild new lives
0:00:44 > 0:00:45for themselves here in London.
0:00:45 > 0:00:55He also travels to India to uncover the shocking scale of the problem.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Not a day has come in my life where you only feel that
0:01:22 > 0:01:32you want to end this right now.
0:01:32 > 0:01:33Sorry...
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Breaking the wall of silence -
0:01:35 > 0:01:36The wives separated from their husbands,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38shunned by their communities and treated as tainted goods.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41The moment their daughter has been left by her husband,
0:01:41 > 0:01:49her status becomes zero, nil!
0:01:49 > 0:01:51The impact for women who are left, who are abandoned
0:01:51 > 0:01:52is quite devastating.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56It's leaving them almost in chains within their society.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58With thousands of brides branded as outcasts,
0:01:58 > 0:02:03we reveal the injustices and indignities many of them encounter.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09They marry us, that bring us over, then they treat us like a dirty rag.
0:02:28 > 0:02:29Ritu has just arrived from India.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31She's embarking on an extraordinary personal mission to find
0:02:31 > 0:02:39her estranged husband.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41I am feeling a bit nervous as well as emotional,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44as I have not seen this man since one and a half years.
0:02:44 > 0:02:54I don't know how he will react when he sees me.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58She's used up all her savings and put her teaching career on hold
0:02:58 > 0:03:01to come to London and get out of a marriage in which
0:03:01 > 0:03:02she feels abandoned.
0:03:02 > 0:03:03I felt betrayed.
0:03:03 > 0:03:13I felt that my whole world has been disturbed or shaken and shattered.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15The wedding was very, very beautiful.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17When the ceremony starts a lot of people coming in giving
0:03:17 > 0:03:24you their blessings.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27As you are posing for those photos, what is going through your mind?
0:03:27 > 0:03:28You're happy, of course.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31The day has come in your life when you got your life partner,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34you're going to spend a life with him and it really feels,
0:03:34 > 0:03:44you feel content inside.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52In fact, Ritu barely knew her groom.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55It was an arranged marriage and before exchanging vows she had
0:03:55 > 0:03:59only ever met him for one single hour.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02So, tell me about the first time you laid eyes on Vikram.
0:04:02 > 0:04:03How did you feel?
0:04:03 > 0:04:04How did you find him?
0:04:04 > 0:04:07In India the arranged marriage is a really common concept, so...
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Vikram had come to my place prior to the marriage was finalised,
0:04:10 > 0:04:11prior one week before
0:04:11 > 0:04:13the wedding and it was just a normal chat.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15I mean, what's your likes and your dislikes?
0:04:15 > 0:04:16What are your dreams of life?
0:04:16 > 0:04:18And what he has been doing in London.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21You're meeting a stranger for the first time, and he's
0:04:21 > 0:04:24going to be a husband, so at the back of the mind...
0:04:24 > 0:04:33You are nervous, you are excited, you are attracted towards him.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Ritu insists she did not feel pressured into the marriage,
0:04:39 > 0:04:46but the wedding took place just 48 hours after they had met.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49We literally had one day, me and my family and my
0:04:49 > 0:04:50relatives, to prepare
0:04:50 > 0:04:52the wedding as much as we could.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53We arranged everything, the temple we'd
0:04:53 > 0:05:00get married, the dinner after the wedding and everything.
0:05:00 > 0:05:06The wedding night, was it what you hoped?
0:05:06 > 0:05:16It didn't go well, to be frank.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Vikram had a flight early in the morning, so he left in the
0:05:22 > 0:05:23midnight.
0:05:23 > 0:05:32We did not even spend a night together.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34After returning to the UK, he assured Ritu that he would
0:05:34 > 0:05:36arrange for her to join him.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38But within four months, the relationship became strained
0:05:38 > 0:05:40and Ritu's visa application, which required her husband's
0:05:40 > 0:05:41support, was never completed.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43She now wants a divorce, but in India it is extremely
0:05:43 > 0:05:45difficult to divorce an absent spouse.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48She feels trapped in a meaningless marriage to a man she barely knows
0:05:48 > 0:05:49and might never meet again.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Sometimes I have to really curse myself that why did
0:05:52 > 0:05:54I take the decision, I could have taken some time.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57I could have asked him not to get married so soon.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Not a day has come in my life where you really feel that
0:06:00 > 0:06:01you want to end this now.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02Sorry...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04There are believed to be tens of thousands of women
0:06:05 > 0:06:06left in limbo like Ritu.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Many are Brides from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10who claim they have been cast aside, abandoned,
0:06:10 > 0:06:19by their British husbands.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27For some of these wives, abandonment is just the final
0:06:27 > 0:06:29incident in a relationship that was characterised
0:06:29 > 0:06:31with abuse and deceit from even before the wedding.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34During their marriage, many of these women are exploited
0:06:34 > 0:06:36for financial gain, others are forced into domestic slavery
0:06:36 > 0:06:44and some are even duped into giving up their children.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46We are looking at thousands of women, so this is
0:06:46 > 0:06:47not an insignificant number.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49We're only beginning to touch and scratch
0:06:49 > 0:06:50the surface of the problem.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53But we see is a continuum of sexual violence that
0:06:53 > 0:06:54have been subjected to, physical, sexual, financial,
0:06:54 > 0:07:04emotional abuse and the end process is often abandonment.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Kulwant was bought to the UK from India by her British national
0:07:45 > 0:07:46husband four years ago.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49She says that as well as being treated as a domestic slave her
0:07:49 > 0:07:58husband subjected her to violence every day.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54In desperation, Kulwant says she eventually picked
0:08:54 > 0:08:55up her son and ran away.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58That was 18 months ago and ever since, her husband has
0:08:58 > 0:09:08refused any contact with her.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Along with her son, Kulwant now lives in temporary accommodation
0:09:14 > 0:09:24and with the help of a charity she's trying to rebuild her life.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37I have travelled from London to Punjab, the north of India ?
0:09:37 > 0:09:39it's the same journey that every year hundreds of Indian British
0:09:39 > 0:09:41nationals make looking for a wife.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43At a secret location in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45a special meeting for women is being held.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Most of the women here are married to men from abroad and,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51according to the head of the charity who organised this event,
0:09:51 > 0:10:01many have something else in common ? their husbands have deserted them.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16More and more girls are in such a big mess.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I see a lot of beautiful educated women, they are in a mess.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Generally, it's 15 case a month.
0:10:21 > 0:10:28It's increasing.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30In this region alone, the local authority estimates
0:10:30 > 0:10:32that there are well over 15,000 abandoned wives.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Their husbands come from all over the world, but British men
0:10:35 > 0:10:37are thought to account for over one-third of these cases
0:10:37 > 0:10:40and for many of these grooms the motivation is not love,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43it's money.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Usually, it's like this - he comes here and he asks
0:10:46 > 0:10:48for massive money from the dowry and they marry,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50the girls' parents give the dowry, he took the money,
0:10:50 > 0:11:00he enjoys his honeymoon months and then, he never comes back.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Despite being outlawed since 1961, in India it is customary
0:11:06 > 0:11:09for the bride's family to give money or gifts to the groom prior
0:11:10 > 0:11:11to the wedding ceremony.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13These dowries often amount to tens of thousands of pounds
0:11:13 > 0:11:18and it doesn't end there!
0:11:18 > 0:11:20A lot of women say that well after the marriage,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22dowry demands continue, and, ultimately, when they cannot
0:11:22 > 0:11:32meet dowry demands, they are abandoned.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39In a rural village on the outskirts of Punjab, Kalmajit married a man
0:11:39 > 0:11:41from Europe three years ago.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43To pay for the dowry and the wedding, her father scraped
0:11:43 > 0:11:45together almost all of his life savings.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Within days of accepting his hand in marriage, Kamaljit's
0:11:47 > 0:11:49says her husband started complaining about the dowry.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Eventually, says Kalmajit, her husband abandoned her
0:11:51 > 0:11:52and returned to Italy.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54She claims he left her even though she was pregnant.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Just a few weeks later, Kalmajit's daughter died,
0:11:56 > 0:12:06but even then she says her husband did not contact her.
0:12:28 > 0:12:29Eventually, says Kalmajit, her husband abandoned her
0:12:29 > 0:12:30and returned to Italy.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32She claims he left her even though she was pregnant.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Just a few weeks later, Kalmajit's daughter died,
0:13:10 > 0:13:20but even then she says her husband did not contact her.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Many women like Kalmajit still desperately hope to revive
0:13:38 > 0:13:41marriages with husbands who have left them, because the alternative
0:13:41 > 0:13:42carries a heavy stigma.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Life as an abandoned woman in India means
0:13:44 > 0:13:48living as an outcast, an outcast wife.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The impact for women who are left, who are being abandoned, is quite
0:13:51 > 0:13:53devastating, because it can affect her job prospects.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56It can affect the way the community view her.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58And the way they view their families as well.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00It can affect, if she has children, how the children are seen,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03how the children are raised, and if you come from very poor
0:14:03 > 0:14:06environments, very poor families, then actually what that is doing
0:14:06 > 0:14:08is adding additional pressure to the family and a sort
0:14:08 > 0:14:13of additional reputation risk.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16She feels she has no value and society makes it
0:14:16 > 0:14:17sure she has no value.
0:14:17 > 0:14:18The problem is that serious.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20It could lead to a suicidal attempt.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22And there have been hundreds of examples where parents
0:14:22 > 0:14:32have committed suicide.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41The dishonour of being branded as an abandoned wife is one
0:14:41 > 0:14:43of the factors that propelled Ritu to come to London
0:14:43 > 0:14:45in search of her husband.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48If I have to talk about back in India, it is very difficult
0:14:48 > 0:14:51to come out of this situation, you're kind of in a standstill,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54you don't know where to go, what to do, how things will be.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57First of all, it is a very bad thing the way people look at you.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59You feel some shameful, that you have been betrayed,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01left out by your husband.
0:15:01 > 0:15:09You just don't want this part of your life now.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Ten days after arriving in London, Ritu's had no success
0:15:11 > 0:15:14in tracking down her husband, so she's come to a woman's group,
0:15:14 > 0:15:15seeking advice and support.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18So, basically to sum it up, he doesn't want to know you.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Literally, you just want to end the relationship, but trying to find
0:15:21 > 0:15:24the reason behind it, but at the end of the day you can't
0:15:24 > 0:15:26go back, you can't move forward, you are stuck, stagnant.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28That's a very horrible position to be in.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30I think you cannot ever answers to the questions
0:15:30 > 0:15:33you are looking for, because from what you said you can't
0:15:33 > 0:15:43expect any sanity from him.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49If she finds him, Ritu wants to ask her husband for a divorce.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52But most wives left in India never get the opportunity to do this.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54UK immigration rules prohibit them from entering the country.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56She will have problems in serving him in England,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59because she cannot come in as a visitor because she has
0:15:59 > 0:16:02to disclose she has a husband and she is married to a British
0:16:02 > 0:16:05national and once she discloses that she will be asked why aren't
0:16:05 > 0:16:07you applying for a spousal visa, and a spousal visa needs
0:16:07 > 0:16:10a husband support, so she is caught in catch 22.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Unable to obtain a divorce via the British courts,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14abandoned wives must turn to the Indian judicial system.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Today, like every day, in Chandigarh, the legal office that
0:16:17 > 0:16:18deals with marital issues is busy.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Some of the women and families here are desperately seeking
0:16:20 > 0:16:23help to advance criminal and divorce proceedings against absent husbands.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25After the wedding, when I arrived to London.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26What happened?
0:16:26 > 0:16:28He said I don't love you, I just like you.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30He married me only because his parents told him to.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Then I found out that he has ditched me and left me.
0:16:33 > 0:16:34After one week.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37In India, it's been a year, since I've lodged a legal complaint.
0:16:37 > 0:16:47He has committed the crime, he has ditched me but I am suffering here.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Getting a divorce from a spouse who lives abroad is a complex,
0:17:28 > 0:17:29expensive process in India.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Some of the parents here have been trying to get
0:17:32 > 0:17:39a resolution for their abandoned daughters for years.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Our legal system is little bit slow, it will take years and years to get
0:18:04 > 0:18:05the decision.
0:18:05 > 0:18:06There are a number of difficulties, of hurdles
0:18:06 > 0:18:09for each and every step, and more over these girls don't have
0:18:09 > 0:18:13is the money to pay for the legal system, even to go from one station
0:18:13 > 0:18:16to the other for the documentation and there is no direct
0:18:16 > 0:18:17legal system available, where she could apply
0:18:17 > 0:18:27as in a domestic marriage, if it fails.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Abandoned wives are not only at the mercy of the courts when it
0:18:39 > 0:18:41comes to obtaining a divorce - many face legal difficulties,
0:18:41 > 0:18:51if their husbands take their children.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Six years ago, Sonali got married in Pakistan.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Her husband, a British national, arranged for her to come and live
0:18:57 > 0:19:01with him and her in-laws in London.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03I came here and I was seven months pregnant.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I was thinking everything would be fine and my life would be better
0:19:06 > 0:19:09but they treated me like a slave or servant in their house
0:19:09 > 0:19:19and they never allowed me to go outside.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Shortly after she had given birth, Sonali says her husband suggested
0:19:25 > 0:19:27a family holiday back in Pakistan to help her recover.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30On their second night abroad, he was out with friends but phoned
0:19:30 > 0:19:35her with a strange demand.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39My husband called me first and said, "I am coming to pick up my son
0:19:39 > 0:19:42because a few relatives are coming from Karachi, the city in Pakistan,
0:19:42 > 0:19:43and they need to see him."
0:19:43 > 0:19:53He just took my son from me and I don't know why I was feeling
0:19:58 > 0:20:01scared that time, I don't know, but I just called him again
0:20:01 > 0:20:07and again, but suddenly his phone was switched off.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Eventually, Sonali realised her husband had been
0:20:08 > 0:20:09deceiving her all along.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13He had taken her three-month old baby and left the country.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15I was thinking there is no reason to live.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17I cry every day, every other minute.
0:20:17 > 0:20:23Most of the time I start talking with his clothes.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26When I went to sleep in the night, I put his clothes
0:20:26 > 0:20:29with my pillow and no-one take him, because he is my son
0:20:29 > 0:20:34and he is sleeping here.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37My mother is like, "No this is not your son,
0:20:37 > 0:20:38this is just his clothes."
0:20:38 > 0:20:46Abandoned in Pakistan, Sonali had no clue how
0:20:46 > 0:20:48she would access legal help to get her son back
0:20:48 > 0:20:52until she came across the website of a UK based charity.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54If there are children involved, there are some legal remedies
0:20:54 > 0:20:56available, not easy, but there are.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Fortunately, that is a situation which the judiciary have woken up
0:20:58 > 0:21:01to, there has been case developments that allow women even if they're
0:21:01 > 0:21:06abandoned and abroad to bring proceedings here.
0:21:06 > 0:21:12Southall Black Sisters secured a specialist family lawyer,
0:21:12 > 0:21:17who made the child a ward of court and arranged for Sonali
0:21:17 > 0:21:24to return to the UK, where her case was heard in the High Court.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27The High Court has said, because it's a British national child,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30and the best interest of the child are a paramount that the force
0:21:30 > 0:21:33of the law should and could be used, so that the child could be reunited
0:21:33 > 0:21:36with his mother, and the husband was in effect, ordered
0:21:36 > 0:21:38to support her immigration application to allow her
0:21:38 > 0:21:41to come back to the UK.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Sonali has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK under
0:21:44 > 0:21:48the domestic violence act.
0:21:48 > 0:21:58It means she will not have to return to Pakistan,
0:22:02 > 0:22:03where abandoned wives and their children
0:22:03 > 0:22:04are often persecuted.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Six weeks on, and Ritu still has not found her husband.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Her time in London is running out, but she's found a charity that
0:22:10 > 0:22:12have agreed to offer her some general advice.
0:22:13 > 0:22:14Have you had any contact with him?
0:22:14 > 0:22:16No, I've not spoken to him yet.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19I need to find out where he's staying, so up to now
0:22:19 > 0:22:23I have not spoken to him.
0:22:23 > 0:22:29Did you know what legal rights you had before you got to the UK?
0:22:29 > 0:22:32No, I did not know anything.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36The reason is that I wanted to know how far I can go in London
0:22:36 > 0:22:40and will there be a closure to the relationship?
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Will there be more quicker in London?
0:22:42 > 0:22:48That was the main reason to come here.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50So in an ideal world, What possible outcome
0:22:50 > 0:22:54would you like from these discussions and these proceedings?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57You cannot force anyone to love you and I really feel that
0:22:57 > 0:22:59if he doesn't want to, we can come to a closure
0:22:59 > 0:23:00and move ahead.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03That's what I want to happen and the reason why I am here.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07What we tend to do for our clients, is to create a positive action plan,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11so we sit down and we say, "Right, this is where you are and this
0:23:11 > 0:23:12is where you want to be.
0:23:12 > 0:23:22How can we help you to get there?"
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I appreciate that you are doing it, because at this point I feel
0:23:26 > 0:23:28so isolated, and really want someone to talk to,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31to just tell them what I am going through right now.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34I feel like the emotions that are going into this process
0:23:34 > 0:23:39are too much to carry on.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42There are only a handful of charities that specifically
0:23:42 > 0:23:48support women in Ritu's situation.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50They have recently been overwhelmed with new cases,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52triggering calls for more systematic help from Governments and legal
0:23:52 > 0:24:02agencies across the globe.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07What we want to see is a better harmonisation
0:24:07 > 0:24:08of law, so that a woman
0:24:08 > 0:24:11can be granted a divorce in one country and have it
0:24:11 > 0:24:12recognised in another.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15A woman can be granted a maintenance order in one country and have it
0:24:15 > 0:24:18recognised in another, but also that governments and state agencies
0:24:18 > 0:24:21cooperate so if a woman is denied a right by sending her to another
0:24:21 > 0:24:23country, she is not stuck in international limbo.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Where a spousal visa is issued, we would wish to see a system
0:24:26 > 0:24:29to where the HO is pro-active, at the end of the two year period,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32if she has not made an application for indefinite leave to remain,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35to take some steps to find her and ask her, "Why
0:24:35 > 0:24:37haven't you applied, are you still in the UK and if
0:24:37 > 0:24:39you're not still in the UK, why not?"
0:24:39 > 0:24:42At least so she may become aware of her own rights.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Ritu has finally found an address for her estranged husband.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47She decides that she wants to go there today.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I don't know how Vikram will react to it and I don't know how
0:24:50 > 0:24:51I will hold my emotions.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55I just want to know why my husband has abandon me from this marriage,
0:24:55 > 0:24:56why doesn't he let go of the relationship.
0:24:56 > 0:25:06So I really hope I get my answers today.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21This is the first time Ritu will see her husband in over
0:25:21 > 0:25:23eighteen months and due to the sensitivity of the situation,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25we chose not to film it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:26It was...
0:25:26 > 0:25:28It was really sad that Vikram did not even recognise me.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31He doesn't want to answer any of my questions.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34In fact, the meeting was tense and her husband called the police.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37I spoke to the police, they said, "You need to go to India
0:25:37 > 0:25:39and get this sorted."
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Now if the police can't help me, where will I go?
0:25:42 > 0:25:44I was expecting that it will be worth coming here,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47but I don't think so, because if I go back to India
0:25:47 > 0:25:50again, I know that he will never, Vikram will never return,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52will never come home to India to divorce me.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54So, I don't know when this will end.
0:25:54 > 0:26:02Ritu's husband denied all of her claims.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05There are no second chances for her to speak to him in the UK.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Her flight back to India leaves tomorrow and she
0:26:07 > 0:26:08cannot afford to return.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14Unable to secure a divorce from their British husbands,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17many south Asian wives resign themselves to a life of injustice.
0:26:17 > 0:26:23A life where their chances of meeting another partner,
0:26:23 > 0:26:28of having a level of respect in their communities are diminished.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34Yet their British husbands face no such cultural barriers.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36They are free to continue their lives
0:26:36 > 0:26:44as they wish.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Ritu is leaving London.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51She is departing without securing a divorce, but with hope and faith
0:26:51 > 0:27:01that she will be able move forward with her life.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03When I was getting the blessings, you feel that
0:27:03 > 0:27:06inner strength in you, and you feel so positive,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10the vibrations around you and you just think, "Yes,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13things are going to work out," and I hope with the grace of God,
0:27:13 > 0:27:23that I just get what I want.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Chris Rogers there.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35And if you'd like to know more about any of the
0:27:35 > 0:27:37organisations detailed in that report, then head to our website.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40I'll give you the address in just a moment, but first,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43let's take a quick look at what's coming up in next week's programme.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46How much pollution does your daily routine expose you to?
0:27:46 > 0:27:48It is something that worries us.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50We are bringing up children here.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55It's a wonderful place to be, but are we harming them?
0:27:55 > 0:27:58We offer top tips on how to cut it down.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59We find out how one amateur film-maker
0:27:59 > 0:28:03captures the capital's most elusive wildlife.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06It was a way of getting out to the hares silently.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09If you do it slowly, all of a sudden, you can
0:28:09 > 0:28:10be within 20 feet of them.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12And you're down at their level?
0:28:12 > 0:28:13It's all about eyelevel.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15You get the best shots at that, really.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17And we go in search of London's lost ghost sights.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20This sign was painted in the mid-1920s.
0:28:20 > 0:28:27It's got a lot of elements to it.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28It's got some beautiful lettering.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30In a sense, they are still whispering, quietly away and
0:28:30 > 0:28:33we are allowed to hear that if we take the time
0:28:33 > 0:28:34to look and listen.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36And that's all from this week's Inside Out London.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38If you missed any of tonight's shower, though, and
0:28:38 > 0:28:41you'd like to catch up on the iPlayer, or if you want any
0:28:41 > 0:28:43information about any of the organisations featured
0:28:43 > 0:28:45in tonight's programme, then head to our website.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47The address is bbc.co.uk/inside out and then just click on London.
0:28:47 > 0:28:57Thanks very much for watching. See you again next week.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Hello, I'm Riz Lateef with your 90-second update.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09It's been described as the worst blunder in Oscars history -