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| Dowry : A Curse | | "It is ironic that dowry was originally designed to safeguard the woman and the provision was made in the form of "Sthreedhan" ("Stree Means Woman and "dhan" as Wealth) consisting of money, properly or gifts given solely to the woman by her parents at the | | Gurmeet Kaur Allinangal | 7/10/2011 1:16:53 AM |
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Dowry as Dahej is
served by payment in
cash or/and kind by the bride's family to the bridegroom's family along with the bride (Kanyadaan) in Kanyadaan is an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter and daan means gift.
Dowry originated in upper caste families as the wedding gift to the bride. It was later given to help marriage expenses and taken as a insurance in case her in-laws mistreated her. Although the dowry was legally banned in 1961, it continues to be highly institutionalized. The groom often demands a dowry consisting of a large sum of money, farm animals, furniture and electronics. The Practice of dowry abuse is still on the rise in India. The most severe is bridge burning when it was considered insufficient dowry by her husband or in-laws. Most of these incidents are given the shape of an accidental burns in the Kitchen or are disguised as Suicide. It is evident that there exist deep rooted prejudices against women in India. Cultural practices such as the payment of dowry is serving as death warrants for women in Indian society. The need for the enactment of the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act in Indian Penal Code Stemmed from a noticeable increase in the number of Indian brides documented to have died in their early married years under suspicious and mysterious circumstances. In cause of death was characteristically labeled as "Kitchen Fires". The rampant occurrence of bridal deaths by Kitchen fires were usually uniform in nature with the classical settings of the young bridge found dead in the Kitchen, clad in a Kerosene Soaked Sari, trapped in flames and left alone to burn to ashes. Very often it was the groom's mother or some one from the groom's family. In some cases, the groom himself acted. The reward in these cases is another bridge, another dowry. Along with curious vicissitudes of a modernizing India, the growing middle class with its opportunities for upward mobility also propagated inevitable inflationary monetary expectations to an already existing evil. This may be considered as one of the most promiscuous and prevalent linkages to the past and present of many cultures. The term "dowry" as a quantifiable offering does not have its roots solely in the Indian culture. It has been noted in early 12th Century Europe and was often reflected in Europe Fairy tales and literature making such references to a woman as offerings of a "Straw Matters", a "Wooden Stool" or "Farm animals". The amount of "money" for a dowry depended on the status of being a rich or poor women. Monetary exchanges also had the show of preserving the aristocracy as a class and as a mean of cultural and economic determination. As interesting event utilization of dowry. Symbolizing both marriage as well as an union of aristocracy and colonial dominance was observed in 1662 when Charles II of England was given the Indian city of Bombay as dowry for marrying Catherine of Braganza of Portugal. The Price of the Indian groom had considerably increased based on his qualifications, profession and income. Doctors, Charted Accountants and Engineers expects a handsome dowry. A reactionary wave of preserving oppressive practices of dowry demands, appeared also in west and other countries where immigrants of Indian origin established themselves. According to Government figures there were 5,377 dowry deaths in 1993 with an increase of 12% from 1992. Despite the existence of rigorous laws to prevent dowry-deaths under a 1986 amendment to the Indian Panel Code (IPC), convictions are rare, and judges (usually men) are often seen uninterested and susceptible to bribery. Recent newspaper reports have focused on the alarming rate of such deaths in Hamirpur, Mandi and Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh. Inspite of banning practices of dowry, harassment, extortion and demands as a preventive measure to avoid dowry deaths, the social evil of dowry deaths continues. The recent update and Legal outcome of some cases illustrates the other side of the Dowry prohibition Act. The Legal system should put the accused of false dowry claims as a possible counter mechanism to blackmail and extortion via Matrimony. There is a considerable rise in "Passport weddings" by Indians seek matrimony with non-resident Indians (NRI) holdings foreign citizenships. Once they get married and arrive on the desired Foreign Soil, many of them resort to tactics to earn more "dollars" from the NRI they married and the females crying false allegations to dowry harassment. When the mentally of dowry demands, along with accusations of extortion and harassment whether true or false start to be part of the imported and migrating baggage, it marks a nouveau scenario among some immigrant marital problems and family law cases. The autopsy of some arranged marriages which extended beyond Indian soil and resulted in separation and breakdown started to reveal traces of carrying the burden of this imported baggage as the norm for negotiating marriages and staying "happily" married. Social Laws are required where culture failed to institutionally stop injustices of dowry deaths, an infanticide in case the woman fail to produce sons and leading to family breakdown due to dowry harassment. More importantly there needs to be a cultural reforming on the status of women which can done away with only through education. The problem is compounded by the fact that 63 percent of the female population in India is still illiterate. Perhaps a good starting point is population control and compulsory education for boys and girls alike. The Cancer of dowry is spreading in a virulent form while the law to curb dowry is a total failure. Huge dowry is still demanded, even when the girls are well-educated and earn much more to supplement the income of the family. Sometimes, after the dowry is settled, further demand are increased at the marriage functions itself, making plight the parents of the bride, very pitiable and pathetic. In case the marriages with dowry lesser than the demand takes place a new chapter of mental and physical violence against the bride begin to extract more dowry. The violence starts from the first day one with taunting remarks from the in-laws and the docile husband also. Analyzing the things in its crude shape, use find, the women are the enemy of the women. Has the mother-in-law and sister-in-law of a girl opposed demand for dowry, the harassment being done to the bride; in-law the position would have been different altogether. Generally, it is the female in a family inflicting verbal and physical violence upon the bride. In most of the cases of dowry death, the mother and sister of the groom are noticed to have active involvement. Several laws are there to curb the dowry. Many NGO and social institutions, women organizations, National Human Rights Commission also there to help the women in such cases. Family courts are also established to settle the disputes in an amicable way. Police are also taking immediate action in cases of violence and dowry deaths. Press and Media also play a great role to make such incidence public, but in spite of all these, a social awakening is required to kill the devil of dowry.
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