Submitted to: Prof.

Gauri

Submitted by: Seema Sawlani Roll no. 53

Social Issue Dowry System in India

Introduction to Dowry System: Dowry is that which is paid to the groom and his family by the bride's family at the time of marriage, which includes payment in cash, jewellery, goods, immovable property etc. The concept of dowry is aid to have been specific to North India region wise and to the higher castes. Till the nineteenth century South India practiced the system of bride-price wherein the groom pays the bride's family. But through the centuries the dowry system has enveloped the entire India transcending class, caste, region and religion barriers. The marriages wherein dowry is paid also hold the implicit social construct that the bride moves in with the groom's family. This is a point to be noted as this implicit social construct is what makes a woman vulnerable to violence. Dowry has evolved out of the economic dependence of the Indian woman. As the father of the bride is marrying her off, she will be a non-productive member of her husbands family, in short, an economic liability. The dowry stands as compensation for the losses incurred by the husband!!!! The system of giving dowry to girls in marriage is an ancient Indian custom. It is infact that portion of the parents wealth which they wish to give to the daughter. This helps the girls in question and the groom to start a home of their own. However, it is very sad that this custom has been vitiated in our times, and the system has become a menace, a social evil in our society. Wedding are no longer happy events, but keep the brides, parents on tenterhooks lest the grooms family demand unreasonable gifts on the eve of the weeding. Infact, quite often, the greedy groom or his parents do demand gift in cash or kind such as a motor car, video, etc. which the girls parents may not be able to fulfill. Then they are caught between the devil and the deep sea. Breaking off the wedding at the last minute brings infamy to the girl. Very often false, malicious stories are spread about her so that re-engagement and marriage becomes difficult. Often girls are driven to suicidal lengths because of the tension created by such a situation.

Another technique adopted by the boys family is not to make unreasonable demands before the wedding, but harass the girl after the wedding to induce her to request her parents to give the gifts they ask for. The girl is taunted at every step and her life is made a virtual hell until she can fulfill the unreasonable demands of her husband and in laws.

Dowry System in India:

No doubt, women are at the helm of life and enjoy equal rights with men in every sphere of life yet there is an undercurrent of the feeling of aversion towards them. Inspite of the fact that they enjoy the prestigious position in government offices, education institution, business organizations, the armed forces etc. they are the victims of many evil practices of the society. One of them is the dowry system which is of cancerous type. Although legislative measures have been taken by the Central Government and the state Governments yet it persists in our society, eating away the very tissues of social life like a canker. When a female child is born in a Hindu family, particularly in Northern India, the faces of all the members of the family fall. The every expression of joy disappears from their visage. It looks as if they had come under the ellipse to sorrows and miseries. Even the mother who has given birth to the child looks sullen and sometimes becomes the object of taunts and ironical remark of her in-laws. Do you know why it happens so? It is because of the dowry system prevalent in our society. The very moment a female child is born, the picture of dowry with the demand of a huge amount of money in cash or kind comes before their eyes. Now people have gone a step further to avoid this unhappy situation. They go to nursing homes for pre-natal determination of the sex of the unborn child, resulting in undesirable practices. Whether a women wills or net and she has to follow the dictates of her in-laws. All these things are happening simply because of the dowry system which is a stigma on the fair name of the Indian society and a curse for women.

 Is the "Indian mentality" the root cause of all evils?

Blindly following the out dated traditions without rationally questioning the relevance or the authenticity - is what is famously known as the INDIAN MENTALITY. It is very much true indeed. We, in India never bother to question any established belief because, it is already an established belief. We buy a brand new BMW, and take it to the temple to offer prayers before using it. Why ? It is the established belief. We study very hard from our childhood and become doctors, software engineers and scientists, we take to careers in the United States, but when it comes to marriage, we marry the highest bidder. We do all the non-sense in the world and still claim to have a great tradition. There is no great tradition, there are only traditions. No tradition is fool proof. It should be understood only as a way of life of that particular period in a specific region and nothing more than that. A large proportion of the women suffer because of the cultural sanctions of the family as their frames of reference are still largely dependent on their father, husband or son. Mythology, religion, culture and the media project the idea that the sole purpose of a woman's existence is procreation and thus what is important is her traditional role as wife and mother!!! She has to perform these roles efficiently and the patrirchal society will ensure that this will happen. Even some of the woman are also responsible for this pathetic situation of women in India as they are quite happy playing second fiddle to men. It is to be noted that when one talks about violence with regard to dowry, the parents of the women play a major role in the perpetuation of this custom. It is assumed by the parents of a girl that if they do not give dowry, then their daughter shall never get married. This attitude of the parents should change. As a child (15 years ago), I used to read and hear a lot of stories written with the concept of eradication of dowry. Then I used to think that by the time I grow up, dowry would be a thing of the past. Today, no stories are written with this concept, not because dowry is eradicated, but the very concept of eradicating dowry itself is eradicated.

 Safeguards to the women in India:

The legal system has provided certain safeguards for the protection of women in India. The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 was passed to curb this menace but it did not bring about any substantial change. According to this Act, any person who demands dowry is to be punished with a fine and imprisonment. The Act was further amended in 1984 but this did not help either. The Act provides that Women Welfare Associations can complain on behalf of the victim. Section 498A of IPC, introduced in 1983, states that the husband or a relative who subjects a woman to cruelty causing physical or mental injury will be fined and imprisoned. Section 198 of Criminal Procedure Code states that judicial notice will be taken of the offences under section 498A of IPC if the complaint is made by, 1. the victim or the victim's relatives, 2. any person related to the victim by blood, marriage, or adoption with the court's permission, 3. Presentation of the facts by the police. Inspite of all these provisions, the legal system has not been able to eradicate the dowry disorder.

What individually one can do to stop Dowry System:

The important thing to be done here is to mobilize public opinion against it. Young men should refuse to take dowry. They should realize that marriage is a union of two souls. Marriage gives them their own family and incentive to fulfill their ambitions in their career. Therefore, they should shun accepting dowry. Rather, they should have enough self-respect to refuse the money or gifts which are offered by the brides parents to buy them. Similarly, girls too should refuse to marry a young boy who is greedy enough to demand anything from her parents. Infact, the slightest indication before marriage of the boys greediness should warn her, and instead of being carried away by the sense of romance she should be worry of marrying such a boy. Another important solution is for every girl to be professionally educated so that she has the ability to earn before she is married. If she is working before marriage it

would be even bother, for being financially independent would make her selfconfident. It would be easy for her to refuse greedy young men. It would in other words, give her the supreme confidence to rend for herself. It would hurting a working girl who can answer them back in their coin. Finally, the real solution can only come if public opinion is strongly mobilized against the giving and taking of dowry. Till each individual regards it as an evil it would be difficult to root it out. Therefore, this should be done on a war footing and every government media should be used for this purpose. Till the old and young men women and even children regard it as a social evil not all the laws of the country can put an end to it. Thus, only a consistent, persistent and co-operative effort by everybody to propagate the message of the social evil of dowry can solve the problem.