My parents were so assured that they were giving me into the hands of an educated man who held the position of a Vice President at a bank; someone who would value their daughter and appreciate her.

“I got marreid to Pakistani American Man on March 2014 in Chicago and not even 24 hours after my parents left Chicago, I was evaluated on the dowry that I was given. My in-laws felt that it wasn’t enough”.

The iron and ironing board were missing and comforter-sets were not enough to keep the entire family warm. They were so disappointed that they began scheming on ways to end my marriage. All this lead to my husband to became violent.

Dowry requests were made my in laws and husband, saying “Even our Prophet (PBUH)’s daughter got a dowry”. I was forced to sleep on mattress by my husband as i could not bring dowry. He demanded a smart TV, saying he will not settle for less than 50-inch TV.

Finally, I took help of my younger sisters who paid for those things, I was ashamed of being married to a man who held the position of a Vice President at a bank, and who could afford a house was buying things on credit cars of my younger sister.

Despite all this i was treated like a slave, and even food from my plate was taken by them, and i was asked to cook and clean for them, kept in four walls and was not allowed to interact with any family member or friends.

Just a week before my 6 months visa was expiring, i was asked to to sign a paper without even asking a question, which later was revealed as a postnuptial agreement stating,

The wife will not get alimony.
The wife will not have the right to contest divorce.
The wife has transparency to everything.

Finally i manged to talk to my sister on skype using a laptop at home and asked for her help to get rid of this family.