Since 2015, more than 11,000 women married to Indians abroad have approached India’s foreign missions with complaints of domestic crises. Many cases involve allegations of fraud and abuse. But in most instances, overseas officials are able to do only so much to help.

All marriages between Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) or Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) and Indian citizens should be compulsorily registered in India, the Law Commission recommended to the Union government on Friday.

Polygyny or the practice of having more than one wife is legal in India only for Muslims, but National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data shows it is almost as prevalent in other communities, though on the decline in all.