Cooch Behar, March 22: The wait for wedding bells to ring has rolled into its fourth year.

Marooned in an enclave with a skewed gender ratio on Indian territory, women of marriageable age in Chhit Karala are finding it impossible to get themselves grooms.

Though an official census has never been conducted here, residents said the 2,500-strong population consisted of more than 1,500 women.

There are no more bachelors left in our village. In fact, all the young men have more than one wife,” said Azgar Ali Mian, a resident of the enclave.

“We had come to terms with living without an identity. We accepted being refused entry into our own country. We had learnt to live without voters’ or ration cards and tolerate the atrocities of the border guards. But how can you expect us to watch and do nothing when our daughters are in danger of remaining spinsters?” he asked.

“We are not Indians, but live on Indian soil. We are Bangladeshis, but our country does not want us. We cannot even go to other villages to look for prospective grooms,” Mian said.

A village elder, Sailen Burman, said there was a time when they would cross over to Bangladesh or enter “proper Indian villages, scout for grooms, and get their daughter’s married.

“Once that stopped, we were forced to find suitable boys from our village,” he said. “When the shortage of grooms was first felt some five year’s ago, parents had no choice but to marry off their daughters to already-married men,” he added.

As the trend grew, the groom’s parents began demanding hefty amounts as dowry. Marital discord also assumed alarming proportions.

“Girls like me are scared that our dreams of a setting up a happy family might be shattered if the husband is already committed to another woman,” 22-year-old Minati Burman said.

Some 50-km away, residents of Natkobari enclave are facing a similar problem.

“We have heard about the problems faced by Chhit Karala residents. Though the situation is not that bad here, we fear we are heading in the same direction,” said Abdur Rehman, a village elder.

A group — Bharat Bangladesh Chhitmahal Binimoy Samanmay Samity — was formed two years ago to end the crisis.

Subhasbadi Forward Bloc leader from Dinhata Deepak Sengupta is leading the group.

“The deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh, who visited the enclaves some months ago, promised to request Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to discuss the issue with her Indian counterpart,” he said.

As long as that does not happen, however, the wait for wedding bells to ring will pull on.