I am from India, married for almost 3 years. Mine was arrange marriage. This is my overall experience:

    First couple of months were pretty good. Me and my wife were loving and caring about each other.     Then she started complaining about my parents, my home, home town.     After 4-5 months of marriage, her hand got burned while cooking food at home. It was pure accident. Now she is blaming my mother for that accident.     After that accident we regularly fight after every 10-15 days.     In each fight she threatens with India's 'dowry act' and always blackmails me saying that she will put me and my parents in jail.     In each fight she threatens me by saying that she will commit suicide and write my and my parent's name in suicide note.     In almost every fight she bangs her hands and head on the floor to cause harm to herself then I have to hold her tightly so that she won't harm herself.     Have learned that if I don't act the way she wants, she will keep that act in back of her mind until next fight and or next year's fight. So started taking notes of my and her each and every activity. Not sure if this if good or not. I don't remember what happened in last year's fight or last year's particular day and not sure if whatever she is saying is right or not. My long term memory is screwed. Nowadays started forgetting passwords, important meetings as well. Heavily using Google Calendar and reminders to do important stuff.     So now living with her in constant tension and pressure. After few days are over of fight she asks me why don't you speak with me much. You are always silent, why don't you like to have sex. Her self harming nature and blackmailing nature keeps haunting my mind for many days after each fight, but I am afraid of telling her this because if I tell this she might threaten me again with that divorce law and there will be one more fight, she might hurt herself in fight.     Some people have suggested that having a baby will solve the problem and some people have opposed against this idea. Not sure what to do.     Told her that we should get separate if we can't live happily with each for that her reply was that 'her life has been spoiled by marriage and hence she wants money from me.'     Phase of 'finding whose fault it is' over, we no longer do root cause analysis of the fight. Everyone did few mistakes. Me, my mother and wife as well.     Parents don't understand my situation and wife also. Mother keeps telling me old way of handling wife which clearly doesn't work with this generation's girls. Wife keeps telling mother's faults but I can't fight with mother for each and every thing told by wife. So wife gets angry because she thinks that I always take mother's side and mother thinks that I have changed and take wife's side.     My brain has stopped taking right decision. Confidence level has gone down. I don't feel like talking to anyone. Nowadays only Quora is my only true time pass.     Haven't lost hope yet, won't harm myself and anyone else no matter what. Hoping for some positive solution in near future.     Why anonymous? Friends are on Quora and don't want to give them topic for gossip.     If any NGO or marriage consultant from India is reading this then please leave a message for me. I will contact you for advice.

Hope my experience falls under category of 'dark sides'. Any bachelor man is reading this then my sincere advice is :

    Don't do arrange marriage at all. You will come to know your and her true nature after 1 or 2 years only. By that time it's too late to break the relationship.     If you do want to do arrange marriage then thoroughly check her background. Understand how she was raised. My wife was pampered like a princess and now she can't handle stress of every day struggle.     Keep a gap of 4-5 months before getting engaged or marriage. Within this period initial attraction and love fades a little bit and you will be able to understand each other and each other's families as well.     Understand who is the closest person to your wife and try to know how that person is. Mostly this person who is closest to your wife will influence most of  her decisions after marriage as well. If that person hasn't married, or is divorced or that person is not good by nature then straight away reject her. Maybe  this point won't apply to every one but "we shouldn't test the poison. Poison will always kill you even if you JUST wanted to taste it."     If your parents are orthodox BUT really so old that they can't really handle the stress of police, court etc. then don't go for marriage. You might call me lunatic but my sincere advice is to go for live-in relationship.