In her essay in the profound book Too Many Men, Too Few Women: Social Consequences of Gender Imbalance in India and China121, Professor Patricia Jeffery finds that there are multiple marriage markets in the same region. One marriage squeeze operates against men without money or jobs, who experience a shortage of women; another favours “suitable boys” who are sought out as grooms. Tellingly, in a viral 2018 clip, Ram Kadam, a BJP MLA from Ghatkopar, Mumbai, is seen promising to kidnap girls for men if they rejected their proposals122.
