Matrimonial disputes account for nearly 70% of the complaints reaching Punjab’s NRI affairs wing, most of these related to abandoned wives and breakdown of marriages after one spouse moves abroad.

Property disputes account for another 20% of the complaints, with officials also receiving cases in which land is purchased or held in the name of an NRI and is later allegedly sold, transferred or dealt with in a manner that families claim amounts to fraud.

Out of the 175 FIRs registered by the wing in 2026 so far, Mohali had the highest number of cases at 47, followed by Ludhiana, 33, Jalandhar, 25, and Patiala, 15.

The pattern in matrimonial cases is often similar: A couple gets married in Punjab, one spouse leaves India for another country and later does not return. In some cases, the woman is left without financial support or clarity about her husband’s plans, forcing her and her family to approach the police or the NRI affairs wing.

“The family suffers in such cases. In some cases, children are also involved,” said deputy superintendent of police (DSP, NRI affairs) Lakhwinder Singh.

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar had also taken note of the cases, stating that Punjab has nearly 32,000 women who have been abandoned by their NRI husbands over the past several years.

With regards to property disputes, officials say the cases often involve properties purchased or held in the names of NRIs, where relatives or other persons allegedly deal with the land in their absence. In some cases, families discover only much later that the property standing in an NRI’s name has been sold, transferred or otherwise dealt with.