Dowry- " A Social Problem"

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.