B.C. court voids ‘cult’ marriage, finding woman didn’t ‘truly consent’
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A British Columbia judge has annulled the marriage of a woman to a fellow member of an India-based “cult group,” saying she didn’t “truly consent” to the 2023 wedding.
The B.C. Supreme Court ruling issued this week says Arshnoor Kaur Jaura claimed she was manipulated and overwhelmed by a “barrage” of overtures from Napinder Singh Jaura and his family that began in October 2022.
The ruling by Justice Ian Caldwell says the woman was an 18-year-old permanent resident in Canada when she was first contacted by the man, who lived in New Zealand and was around 32.
The ruling says she did not wish to marry but the man and his family “persisted,” bringing a “sacred food gift” to her workplace and claiming the union was “blessed” by a priest of the Dera Sacha Sauda religious group.
The man’s sister warned that refusing the marriage would invite “the wrath” of the religious community.
Caldwell’s ruling found the marriage “voidable,” saying the man “pursued, harassed, and perhaps even stalked” the teenager who was under duress when the wedding occurred in Abbotsford, B.C.
The ruling says the woman had finally agreed to marry on April 25, 2023, and was picked up from work the next day by Singh Jaura’s relative.
She was driven to a home where a Punjabi wedding suit was waiting for her, and the ceremony happened that day without her family present.
Content retrieved from: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/b-c-court-voids-cult-marriage-finding-woman-didn-t-truly-consent/ar-AA1BpU9Q.
