In common parlance, ‘dowry’ denotes the goods and money being paid by bride’s parents to bridegroom and the members of his family. The dowry system is prevalent in all the parts of India. Unfortunately, groom’s parents tries to extract maximum from bride’s parents and even insist for luxury items like diamonds, cars, jewellery ,scooters,huge amount of cash and immovable properties etc. Sometimes , the ceremony of actual ‘kanyadan’ is being interrupted and bride’s parents to forced to fullfill the demand of dowry. During recent years, the instances of cruelty and harassment to young brides, bride-burnings, murders and snitches, due to inadequate dowry, have tremendously increased. Dowry has thus changed from a custom to curse and exploitation.
In india, dowry system is as old as the institution of marriage itself. It is deeply rooted in the social custom of our country. Traditionally, in ‘kanyadan’ no ‘dan’ was considered valid unless it was accompanied with dakshina ‘ i.e., dowry , in the form of goods of house hold utility and cahs. In the older days, dowry was given as a token of love, affection and honour and its magnitude was discretion of the bride’s parents, keeping in view their financil and social status , and the things of domestic utility were given to establish the family of the new young couple. Another reason was that the the jewllery, ornaments and cash etc. could be sold in unexpected bad times. The custom and relevance because in patriarchal societies, the son were the inheritors of father’s property and so the dowyr was given to the daughters in lieu of their share in the property. Further, the girls wer e confined to the houses, so whatever money was saved in the terms of expenditure on education was given them at the time of marriage. Gradually the real spirit of the system was lost and it became a compulsion for bride’s parents. the craze for dowry has become the most heinous crome and against humanity.
social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Gandhi and Ishwar Chander Vidyasagar tried thier level best to mobilise public opinion against dowry system. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Any youngman who makes dowry a condition of marriage discredits his education and his country and dishonours womanhood”. Mrs. Indira Gandhi unequivocally expressed. “we shall have to wipe out the remains of this custom. WE shall have to create a mass awakening against the evil effects of this cursed custom. The Goverment will introduce laws but socila awakening is necessary for its comfortable and desirable sucess”.
Formerly, there were no laws to combat such heinous crimes on women. And, more often than , not the witnesses to such barbaric acts wre on the man’s side, with the result that those crimes, committed within the four walls of the houses, were never leaked out. Now, however, ‘dowry death’ has been incorporated in the Indian Penal Code under sec 304-b, as a specific offence, punishable by a minimum period of seven yearas imprisonment, which may be extended to life imprisonment.
Besides this, the government has , time and again been passing laws in an attempt ot curb the menace of dowry. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, was the first of its kind and defined ‘dowry’ as ‘property gives directly to indirectly by one party to another, by parents of one party ot another party, at or before of after the marriage in consideration of marriage. “Dowry Prohibition (amendment ) act ,1984 defined it as anything given in connection with marriage. It also made the giving, taking or demanding of dowry to be a punishable offence. Recently, the Supreme Court declared that ‘Stridhan’, or the items given in dowry to the bride and other gifts made to her belonged to her exclusively. The husband and his family members. could at the most, act as trustees. Under sec 498-A , IPC , if the husband or any of the member of his family subjects the wife to cruelty, shall be punishable to three years imprisonment and fine.
Laws alone, are not the effective weapon of fighting this deep-rooted problem. What is needed is a radical change of attitudes of the people and we shall have to fight against this evil practice. Young persons should develop the tendecny to boycott the dowry.
