New Zealand Police are set to conduct a virtual video statement recording of an Indian woman alleging severe domestic cruelty, assault, and intimidation against her husband and in-laws, marking a new precedent for cross-border legal cases.
New Zealand Police to Record Video Statement in Matrimonial Dispute
New Zealand Police is preparing to record the video statement of a woman who filed a formal complaint alleging matrimonial cruelty, criminal intimidation, physical assault and outrage of modesty against her husband and mother-in-law during her stay in the country. She has also filed a complaint with Delhi Police's women cell against her in laws including brother in laws. It is the first of its kind that a foreign investigation agency is going to record the statement of a victim from Indian soil through videography.
After several rounds of communication through email with the victim, the New Zealand Police is all set to video record her statement through the Teams app on December 14. She has also approached the Delhi Police to video record her statement. Delhi Police refused to video record her statement for want of an order passed by the court in this regard. Her counsel said that it is a significant development in a cross-border domestic dispute.
Legal Process and Safeguards
New Zealand police authorities have informed the victim that her statement will be recorded via video conference, incorporating necessary safeguards. The decision follows a formal complaint lodged by the woman against her husband, a New Zealand citizen. By opting for a secure virtual deposition, authorities aim to ensure a fair and protected process for the complainant while bridging the legal and geographical complexities involved in international marital disputes.
Advocate Arpit Batra, counsel for the complainant, highlighted that the decision by the New Zealand law enforcement authorities to facilitate a secure virtual statement marks a crucial step toward protecting the rights of non-resident victims in cross-border marital disputes. It establishes a necessary precedent for ensuring access to justice without subjecting the complainant to potential harassment or logistical hardship," stated counsel for the complainant. Further proceedings and legal steps will follow upon the formal recording and evaluation of the statement by the relevant authorities in New Zealand.
Details of the Allegations
As per the Complaint filed through advocate Arpit Batra, the marriage was solemnised on April 29 2025, according to Hindu rites and ceremonies. The marriage ceremonies took place at Hotel Park Grand, Sector 43, Chandigarh. The said hotel was booked as per the demand of the mother-in-law and the husband, who had created pressure on the complainant's father to book the venue as he wanted a venue as per his standards. It is alleged that when the victim's father expressed his financial inability to book, emphasising that an outstation venue will entail extra expenses, the groom spoke very rudely with the bride. Her father took this pressure, as she is the only daughter in the family.
Shortly after the marriage on April 30 2025, she lived in the matrimonial home at Sector 55, Mohali, Punjab, and further relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, on July 2 2025, and returned to India on April 21, 2026. Throughout this timeline, she alleged that she was subjected to systematic cruelty, which was designed to break her physical and mental health. She alleged that he used to call her dad poor every time. "He used to say that he made a mistake marrying me and marrying an Indian girl because Indian girls come with baggage (referring to the family). He wanted to marry a white girl so that he could have white children. With me, he will have black kids. He brought a girl from a poor family so that uske parents bas uski respect Kare, usko kuch sunaaye nahi," said the complainant.
Allegations of Abuse and Infidelity
It is also alleged that he used to call himself an Alpha male and a trophy husband, declaring that he is a very good-looking man who got an ugly Indian girl. He also stated that he would marry a young Filipino girl when he grew older. Also, he told the victim she has a smaller pelvic area, so she cannot accommodate healthy babies for him and that he should replace her with someone who has a bigger pelvic area and can accommodate healthy babies for him. He told her that he only married her because of his mother, as Indian girls can take care of his mother. He just wanted a caretaker and a maid for himself.
On August 25 2025, she underwent an abortion due to the mental stress put on her by her husband and his family members. His mother was in New Zealand and was abusing the complainant every day before this happened. She wanted her son to remain happy.
In November 2025, she allegedly discovered text messages proving the Accused was having an active extramarital affair with a woman who was his ex-girlfriend. She opened his laptop to apply for a work visa and saw his profile open on his laptop. "He had a different profile on his laptop. It was by mistake that his profile was opened, and I saw the iMessages with his ex on his laptop where she discovered they met a few days back and were constantly in touch," said the complainant. She alleged that she was coerced into self-funding her New Zealand work visa and my own medical bills, for which she has sufficient proof.
On April 10, during a confrontation regarding his second infidelity, he became aggressively violent with her. He hurled severe profanities and violently threw cold water directly on her three consecutive times as a form of physical punishment and humiliation, and used criminal force to violate her personal dignity and outrage her modesty, she added.
On April 16, he launched an aggressive verbal assault against her family, calling her parents "Bhookhe Nange". This happened when they were at their residence in New Zealand. It was around 1:30 am. He explicitly and criminally intimidated her by stating that he "had talked to a killer to kill my father", causing grave and immediate fear for her family's survival. He further used highly abusive, sexually explicit, and threatening language against her paternal grandmother to completely break her psychological resistance, she alleged in the Complaint.
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