Dowry- " A Social Problem"
The practice of giving dowry is very common
in our country. Dowry is the money or gifts given to a daughter by her parents
at the time of her marriage. Unfortunately, this has been misconceived and has
become a social problem. The girl is very often tortured by her husband and his
family for bringing insufficient dowry. Sometimes they are compelled to commit
suicide to escape ill treatment. Worst still, people can resort to do away with
a bride who has not brought enough. Various legislative safeguards have been
introduced over the past fifteen years to combat this problem. But the tragic
truth is, the marital and domestic violence including dowry death have
continued to grow and spread.
The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed in 1961 but it has not been
effectively implemented. It was further amended in 1986. Under this law, a
person who is convicted can be imprisoned for five years and fined up to
fifteen thousand rupees.
Why was the Dowry system introduced?
The system of Dowry existed in India even
before the British Rule, but not in the format that is prevalent in the society
today. In the pre-colonial period, dowry was an institution managed by women,
for women, to enable them to establish their status and have recourse in an
emergency. In this ancient system of dowry, the parents of the bride, even
her kith and kin, all gave wealth to her in the form of valuable gifts etc. It
was just like how parents used to give a part of wealth to their sons, so did
they give it to their daughters too during the daughter’s marriage. What is
very important to be noted here is that, the valuables or the wealth was given
to the bride, and NOT to the groom or his family. In other words, the dowry
wealth continued to be owned by the wife and not by the husband or his family.
This gave the required financial independence to women who would even manage
the income from their agricultural land , etc.
So in the original system of dowry
prevalent in India, women were gifted wealth from their parents during marriage
and this served as a tool of financial independence for the bride even after
marriage.
The Evils of Dowry system in India
The dowry at present is a source of both joy and curse in the
society. It is also a joy to the husband and his relatives who get cash,
jewelry, costly dress, utensil and furniture.But is a curse to the bride and
her parents who have to bear gigantic cost to satisfy the irrational demands of
the family of the boy.It is a matter of immense regret that societies which
were earlier free from dowry are gradually falling prey to it. If the demands
for dowry ended with conclusion of marriage, there might have been some room
for relief.But it is a sad experience for many that the demands of dowry are
extended towards the bride’s parents even after the marriage of their
daughter.She is sent to her parental home to bring more cash, ornaments, etc.
as dowry. If she returns without dowry, cruel treatment or torture waits
for her.When more pressure is put on the bride’s parents, their dear daughter
has no other option but to commit suicide to evade more insult and torture at
the hands of the members of her husband’s family.
How to stop this evil.......??????
To root out this social evil mere laws, and by-laws or social
enactment cannot be sufficient. Total change in the society is necessary at
this moment. This is a social evil and we should tackle it socially. Social
workers and social service organizations should also come forward to rouse
public opinion against this evil system. They should organize anti-dowry
campaigns throughout the country and people should boycott socially all those
who accept or offer dowry. Additionally, the women should be made self-sufficient
by giving them proper education and employment so that they might grow
conscious of their dignity and prestige and reject outright the young men whose
parents demand dowry.
No doubt, the ball has started rolling; a
new atmosphere is being created. Social organizations have become much vocal
and are denouncing this cursed system. In general, people also have become much
more conscious. Let us all work together and put an end to this system.
