Dowry demon

Mehak Grover Gupta
The giving of gifts or money to a groom on behalf of the bride’s family is a common practice in India. This is popularly known as dowry. It was primarily a farewell gift, given out of love. But what we have made out of it is absurd. From ages, the marriage has been the union of two souls. But this union of souls has been now turned into a trade. It is a social evil that has caused unimaginable tortures and crime towards women. This evil has taken lives of women from all stratas of society- be it poor, middle class or the rich. However, it is the poor who succumb and fall prey to it because of lack of awareness and education.
It is not uncommon for people in many countries to spend monstrous sums of money on weddings. But in India, it is taken to a whole new level. There are many people who have poured their life savings into their children’s wedding. Dowry is one of the major causes that make daughters less valued as sons. In the society, many a time it has been observed that girls are seen as a liability and are often subjected to subjugation and are given second hand treatment, may it be in education or other amenities.
Today, the Government has come up with many laws and reforms, not only to eradicate the dowry system but also to uplift the status of girl child by bringing in many schemes. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 makes dowry illegal in India, under which both giving and accepting dowry is offence. The punishment for violating the law is seven years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 15000 or the value of dowry given, whichever is more. Apart from this section, the menace of dowry has been covered in three sections of Indian Penal Code, namely section 406 (recovery of streedhan), section 304-B (dowry death) and section 498-A (cruelty on the basis of demand of dowry). Indian Penal Code even makes the crime non-bailable.
Government has done its role by enacting the concerned laws. But, what about its judicious implementation? It is now for the society at large to become aware and understand the situation. It is upon all of us to take active steps in bringing about the necessary change and stop either giving or taking dowry. We should know that we need to start valuing our daughters first, so that others know their value once they grow up.
In words of Mahatma Gandhi- ” Any young man, who makes dowry a condition to marriage, discredits his education and his country and dishonours womanhood.”
Have we ever analysed- what is the status of the custom in our so called ‘educated and enlightened society?’ According to Indian police, they receive over 2,500 reports of bride-burning alone every year while the number of dowry deaths is about 9000. These numbers increase at a rate of 1-2 percent every year. It is also a reason why many parents don’t want to have daughters, because of the dowry they will have to shell out at her marriage, and the stress they go through due to never-ending demands from her in-laws. In fact, dowry deaths of newly married brides have always been regularly in the news.Women are committing suicides or are murdered for dowry related incidents. Still, girls have not become strong enough to get into a habit of saying a strict no to dowry demands. There are many families, now a days, who don’t demand anything but don’t even have the will to say a strong ‘No’. Dowry is as strong as it always was, even today! No education or campaign can work unless, both boys and girls become morally strong.
Educate your daughters. Encourage them to have their own career. Teach them to be independent and responsible. Treat them equally without any discrimination. Do not encourage the practice of giving and taking dowry. The real problem is, even in today’s world, parents don’t lay enough emphasis on educating their daughters, as they feel that their husbands will support them later. The regular middle class and upper class do send their daughters to school, but don’t emphasize career options. Education and independence is one powerful and valuable gift that we can give our daughters. This will inturn help them to be financially sound and be a contributing member of the family, finally getting the respect and right status in the family.
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