NJ NJ- Simran Simran, 24, Indian national, vanished after arriving in the US for an arranged marriage, 20 June 2025, *Doesn't speak English/no family*

[modesty blaise]

Oh Lord, sorry lol. I thought it was in Atlanta.......

 

[Knox]

Possible! But still seems so elaborate for something that's relatively 'easy'.

For a young woman who has no resources, it wouldn’t be easy.

 

[modesty blaise]

For a young woman who has no resources, it wouldn’t be easy.

True! But I'm hung up on the arrange marriage part so i'm willing to give grace that she's not just a 'scammer'.

 

[Cedars]

I understand that is what is reported.
If she got herself out of a situation she did not wish to be in I support that.

I think you are assuming she's a victim, but she could be a scammer.

Romance fraud cuts both ways.

 

[Cedars]

True! But I'm hung up on the arrange marriage part so i'm willing to give grace that she's not just a 'scammer'.

She didn't have to board the plane. Why not go missing in India where she would be a legal resident among people who speak her language?

 

[Knox]

I think you are assuming she's a victim, but she could be a scammer.

Romance fraud cuts both ways.

That’s the way I’m viewing it based on what the groom and LE reported. It could go either way, hard to say who’s telling the truth. But to straight up assume the groom is the one lying isn’t warranted.

Bottom line is she could still be in danger if it turns out she met someone online or if she simply fled to escape the arrangement. We know the horror stories that come of trusting the wrong person. All JMO only.

 

[modesty blaise]

She didn't have to board the plane. Why not go missing in India where she would be a legal resident among people who speak her language?

Who knows! But arrange marriages usually involve more than the bride/groom. We are missing a lot of info, like if this situation is mail order bride rather than arrange by the families.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I think you are assuming she's a victim, but she could be a scammer.

Romance fraud cuts both ways.

Missing people are missing people until proven otherwise, in my book. As far as I know, there's no evidence she was a scammer.

MOO.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

She didn't have to board the plane. Why not go missing in India where she would be a legal resident among people who speak her language?

Maybe she was afraid of her family? Who knows? I don't know what the cultural implications are if this marriage was fully arranged. I just don't think we have enough information yet to determine cause and fault. MOO

 

[acutename]

Atlantic City is in the state of New Jersey.

The weird thing to me is, why was she in AC? Typically, she would fly to Newark NJ or maybe Phila? I know that Newark has non-stops from India. Not sure about Phila. The train runs from AC to Lindenwold to Phila, but AC is "out of the way." Did she meet them in Lindenwold and then escape to AC? They make it sound as if she never arrived.

Atlantic City | New Jersey Public Transportation Corporation​

NJ Transit
https://www.njtransit.com › atlanticcity




The Atlantic City Rail Line offers convenient daily service from Philadelphia 30th Street Station to Atlantic City Rail Terminal.

 

[charminglane]

The weird thing to me is, why was she in AC? Typically, she would fly to Newark NJ or maybe Phila? I know that Newark has non-stops from India. Not sure about Phila. The train runs from AC to Lindenwold to Phila, but AC is "out of the way." Did she meet them in Lindenwold and then escape to AC? They make it sound as if she never arrived.



View attachment 599862

Atlantic City | New Jersey Public Transportation Corporation​

View attachment 599863
NJ Transit
https://www.njtransit.com › atlanticcity




The Atlantic City Rail Line offers convenient daily service from Philadelphia 30th Street Station to Atlantic City Rail Terminal.

It's possible she had never been to the ocean before. It was close enough to be a tempting pull.
Love the shore!

 

[acutename]

The other weird thing to me is that while the groom is saying he paid for her plane ticket, typically the bride's family would be paying a dowry...(illegal since 1961 but widely practiced)

Indian dowry payments remarkably stable, study says​

BBC
https://www.bbc.com › world-asia-india-57677253






Jul 4, 2021 — They found that dowry was paid in 95% of the marriages even though it's been illegal in India since 1961. The practice, often described as a ...

 

[acutename]

It's possible she had never been to the ocean before. It was close enough to be a tempting pull.
Love the shore!

maybe... if I were in a country for my arranged marriage and did not speak English, not sure I would be striking out on my own and rail roading off to AC. Didn't some one meet her plane at the airport?
Didn't she have a heap of luggage?

 

[annpats]

It's possible she had never been to the ocean before. It was close enough to be a tempting pull.
Love the shore!

She would've had to go to Mumbai for her K1 visa interview at the US embassy in India, if that is, she came on a K1 visa for intended spouses..
Mumbai is surrounded by the ocean.

 

[annpats]

I wonder if she has decided against the wedding (for whatever reason), and yet feels she can't return to India and her family due to the shame and stigma and money that they have spent arranging this marriage.

Just a thought.

Perhaps that why it's been said she "had no family". Which is very unusual for a lower&middle class girl. She's hardly from an orphanage, and families are usually big and extended in India.

MOO.

 

[Charlot123]

I was busy and mostly missed this thread but I have certain questions.

First, even “arranged” marriages seldom means that a bride and a groom never see one another before the wedding. Consider this, a man decides but he usually has several choices. He wants to choose the best partner for life. So the parents contact a matchmaker, she usually has several families in mind, she checks the horoscopes, the families contact each other. The groom is allowed to meet with the potential brides. He chooses, but usually a girl has a certain say. (Perhaps if they spoke on Zoom and continue talking, her obvious lack of interest might be a signal).

It is not that the families are packing off their girl for a better life without any contact. It is a nuclear society and a very family-bound one. Often they get married in India and return back together.

So my first question would be, what state of India did the bride come from? If she came from Uttar Pradesh, I can understand poor knowledge of English, but then, what is the groom’s profession in the US? Arranged marriage usually implies similar level of economic status/education. Something doesn’t match.

 

[Kalanit]

DBM

 

[Charlot123]

So I read further. We don't know what her last name is, and whether she is a Sikh. If she is, though, then it looks even stranger. Sikhs are a minority in India, constituting only 1.7% of its population. Life is difficult where they live. Reproduction rate is 1.6 and there are less women than men. So even if a mail order bride, a Sikh woman is of high value to her community; I really doubt that the groom's family would neglect or abuse her. She definitely has some choices.

Was the groom's family scammed? Not implausible. Or, else, did the girl plan to get married and maybe changed her plans? What happened on the plane? We don't know.

It is strange that Sikh community wouldn't know her. They are known for charity in general, definitely won't leave their own. JMO. Do we even know what's her mother tongue? It might vary as Sikhism is not an ethnicity.

 

[AlatzuMeizzaja]

I know that Newark has non-stops from India. Not sure about Phila.

SBM.

For what it's worth, American Airlines operates Philadelphia-Doha, codesharing with Qatar Airways, and it's quite common for South Asian passengers to transit on the Gulf carriers (e.g. Delhi-Doha-Philadelphia). JMO.

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

Missing people are missing people until proven otherwise, in my book. As far as I know, there's no evidence she was a scammer.

MOO.

Well, we already know she's missing. That part's been established.

The weird thing to me is, why was she in AC? Typically, she would fly to Newark NJ or maybe Phila? I know that Newark has non-stops from India. Not sure about Phila. The train runs from AC to Lindenwold to Phila, but AC is "out of the way." Did she meet them in Lindenwold and then escape to AC? They make it sound as if she never arrived.

SBM.

For what it's worth, American Airlines operates Philadelphia-Doha, codesharing with Qatar Airways, and it's quite common for South Asian passengers to transit on the Gulf carriers (e.g. Delhi-Doha-Philadelphia). JMO.

I'm wondering why she went to Atlantic City also. Going to AC itself isn't significant, but for someone who knows no English and (supposedly) came alone, she seemed to know her way around. Assuming the "groom" is in the South Jersey/Philly area, that's a couple hours in the opposite direction. (If he's actually in Atlantic City, she was already there, and THEN went to Lindenwold.)

Highly unlikely that she flew into Atlantic City; AC International Airport only flies to Florida. If she flew into Newark or JFK (or anywhere else... Doha, Washington, etc), it was probably just a connection, and she ultimately flew into Philly.