Sham Marriage??

[Charuhans 0]

Woman Found Safe After Costly Search

By MICHAEL TARM,AP

Posted: 2007-12-29 21:07:57

CHICAGO (Dec. 29) - Anu Solanki wanted out of her marriage, so the 24-year-old met a male friend at a forest preserve on Christmas Eve, jumped into his car and fled for what she hoped would be a new life in Southern California.

AP

The search for Anu Solanki, who on Dec. 24 fled her marriage in Illinois for a new life in California, cost about $250,000, according to authorities.Only days later, she told investigators, did she learn that her disappearance had made headlines and prompted a costly search by authorities, who had feared that Solanki might have drowned in a river.

"She expressed regret and embarrassment," Cook County sheriff's spokesman Bill Cunningham said Saturday, a day after Solanki flew back to Chicago from Los Angeles and spoke to investigators for several hours. "She claims she in no way meant to deceive people into thinking she fell into the Des Plaines River."

Authorities spent about $250,000 on their search, which included divers and a helicopter. Her family also handed out flyers with Solanki's picture.

"Obviously we're upset that so many individuals have had to work on this for so many days and that so many resources were spent on it," Cunningham said. "But she maintained she had no idea it would create the kind of reaction it did."

Police will meet with prosecutors soon to determine if Solanki broke any laws, but Cunningham declined to say what charges she could possibly face.

"The first thing you'd think of is making a false report. But she didn't make a false report," he said. "It's not a crime to deceive your husband and family."

Earlier in the week, Solanki's husband, Dignesh Solanki, had said that his wife may have been placing a religious statue in the river on the day she went missing. Authorities had feared she slipped into the water and drowned.

The statue of the deity Ganesh, revered as the Hindu god of good fortune and wisdom, played a role in the couple's Hindu marriage ceremony. It had broken and a religious leader told them that placing it in the water would ward off bad luck.

The discovery of a car Solanki drove to work the day she vanished heightened suspicions. The doors were open and the keys inside.

She told investigators she left the car because it belonged to her husband.

"She didn't want to have any of his possessions and wanted to completely break with him," Cunningham said. "She indicated that she was not a victim of abuse in their relationship. She just stated she regretted getting married and wanted out of the marriage."

A message left Saturday for Solanki's husband was not returned.

The Solankis were born in India and were married Oct. 6, 2006. They held a second Hindu wedding on May 6 in New Jersey.

Cunningham said investigators inquired about whether their marriage was arranged, but the answer was not clear.

Anu Solanki, who spent Saturday night at a Chicago-area hotel, claimed that she and the 23-year-old man who drove her to California, Karan C. Jani, were close friends and not romantically involved, Cunningham said. They had known each other about a year.

It was Jani who first saw a report about the search for Solanki on a Web site Thursday. He then encouraged her to contact her family.

By the time authorities learned Friday that Solanki had been in touch with relatives, they had already concluded by looking at cell-phone records that she was alive.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2007-12-29 20:50:53

[de_sjiem 0]

Just because she wanted out of her marriage doesn't mean it was a sham marriage... plenty of people get married and find out it wasn't what they had in mind and then take off... happens every day...

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

If you want out of your life, do you have to notify all of your family, friends the police & everyone that you are planning on cheating & setting up a new life across country? That is so stupid. What happened to freedom and doing what we wanted.

She called her cell phone provider a couple days after her disappearance to turn off service, no one did it for her, she did it herself. Hello family, that's a clue, she wants no more contact.

[athena_ny 1]

If you want out of your life, do you have to notify all of your family, friends the police & everyone that you are planning on cheating & setting up a new life across country? That is so stupid. What happened to freedom and doing what we wanted.

She called her cell phone provider a couple days after her disappearance to turn off service, no one did it for her, she did it herself. Hello family, that's a clue, she wants no more contact.

I also see no mention of her just receiving a green card and running off. She could have been in this country for years.

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

If you want out of your life, do you have to notify all of your family, friends the police & everyone that you are planning on cheating & setting up a new life across country? That is so stupid. What happened to freedom and doing what we wanted.

She called her cell phone provider a couple days after her disappearance to turn off service, no one did it for her, she did it herself. Hello family, that's a clue, she wants no more contact.

I also see no mention of her just receiving a green card and running off. She could have been in this country for years.

I think on our local Chicago news they might have mentioned that it was actually the husband that seeked benefits... she may have been the USC, but not sure. They didn't mention much immigration details at all.

[Jesse and Hema 2]

I'm just thinking, "why California?".. silly..

And by the way, Wisconsin cheese will always be better than California cheese... (this IS the "off-topic" forum, so I don't need to apologize for tangents )

Edited December 31, 2007 by Jesse G

[denny01 0]

Ahh....this case interests me very much....not because of the sham marriage part.....but because my fiancee is from United Arab Emirates and she is insisting she is not going to tell anyone she is leaving.

Our problem is she has to disappear the night before her interview and then we will possibly have to wait at least a day after interview just in case her visa isnt issued on interview day. This means she will be missing for 48 + hours while we are still in UAE. I have been stalling with my paperwork because I am not sure what to do in this situation. Her parents do not know she wants to marry and she is afraid of severe repercussions if she gets caught....this has been a sticking point for several months now.

anyone have any suggestions ?

[Jesse and Hema 2]

Ahh....this case interests me very much....not because of the sham marriage part.....but because my fiancee is from United Arab Emirates and she is insisting she is not going to tell anyone she is leaving.

Our problem is she has to disappear the night before her interview and then we will possibly have to wait at least a day after interview just in case her visa isnt issued on interview day. This means she will be missing for 48 + hours while we are still in UAE. I have been stalling with my paperwork because I am not sure what to do in this situation. Her parents do not know she wants to marry and she is afraid of severe repercussions if she gets caught....this has been a sticking point for several months now.

anyone have any suggestions ?

Why doesn't she want anyone to know? I'm assuming her family and friends oppose her departure/marriage?

[AUBGER 0]

Ahh....this case interests me very much....not because of the sham marriage part.....but because my fiancee is from United Arab Emirates and she is insisting she is not going to tell anyone she is leaving.

Our problem is she has to disappear the night before her interview and then we will possibly have to wait at least a day after interview just in case her visa isnt issued on interview day. This means she will be missing for 48 + hours while we are still in UAE. I have been stalling with my paperwork because I am not sure what to do in this situation. Her parents do not know she wants to marry and she is afraid of severe repercussions if she gets caught....this has been a sticking point for several months now.

anyone have any suggestions ?

Doesn't she has to go through AP? That might take months from what i understand

If talking about the posted case though. I think what she did was kind of unfair. I understand it's not necessary to notify police and stuff but why in the world didn't she file for a divorce like normal people do?

[Fandango 1,440]

But why run away? Surely this woman can do what she wants, but at the end of the day it's completely horrendous to think of the torment her friends and family were going thru. Leave a note, call from an undisclosed location, send a postcard. But to completely ** off without even the slightest thought of their pain is totally selfish and cold hearted.

She didn't think anyone would care? Cmon now.

[AUBGER 0]

But why run away? Surely this woman can do what she wants, but at the end of the day it's completely horrendous to think of the torment her friends and family were going thru. Leave a note, call from an undisclosed location, send a postcard. But to completely ** off without even the slightest thought of their pain is totally selfish and cold hearted.

She didn't think anyone would care? Cmon now.

exaclty...maybe she was depressed or something? they should have her state of mind tested or something. Normal people don't do that. If all would do that than the truly missing people wouldn't get the search they deserve.

[Charuhans 0]

Hey people, didn't you notice the "???" in the topic, I just put a thought there, not an accussation. But its interesting to see the responses. Anyway, I don't really care about the immigration part, its the $250,000 of taxpayers money that was blown off .....

[AUBGER 0]

Hey people, didn't you notice the "???" in the topic, I just put a thought there, not an accussation. But its interesting to see the responses. Anyway, I don't really care about the immigration part, its the $250,000 of taxpayers money that was blown off .....

people get scre***d on taxes every year anyways...and if it doesn't go towards this....it will go towards something else anyways....usually just as useless

[Fandango 1,440]

Woman Found Safe After Costly Search

By MICHAEL TARM,AP

The statue of the deity Ganesh, revered as the Hindu god of good fortune and wisdom, played a role in the couple's Hindu marriage ceremony. It had broken and a religious leader told them that placing it in the water would ward off bad luck.

One thing's for certain....this statue breaking was most certainly bad luck....well at least for the husband.

[denny01 0]

Why doesn't she want anyone to know? I'm assuming her family and friends oppose her departure/marriage?

not only do they oppose it...she claims they will stop her

am trying to get ahold of UAE embassy law dept. in washington dc

have talked to Dubai police on several occasions hinting at the problem.....they are acting like we will be ok since she is 21......but she doesnt trust them

we have discussed moving her out of country......but we run into residence requirements or the alternate country is too dangerous for me.

she has to sneak around at this point.....just gettin to a post office box is difficult.

it makes me laugh when people say she is just coming for green card......