Tahir Mustafa
There are many evils in our society. The dowry system is one of them. It has become a problem today. Almost every family has a girl. So every family has to suffer sooner or later. An Indian girl is not like a western girl. She can not choose a husband for herself. His marriage means business. In the marriage market, boys are bought and sold. The better is the boy, the higher the price is.
History of dowry- the history of the dowry system is old. The sun has a share in the parent’s property. The daughter should also get her share. But we give her parent at the time of her marriage through dowry we try to buy a good husband for her. We search for her good and comfortable house to live in. We want to make her life happy through dowry. But dowry has taken an ugly turn. Money plays an important part in marriage tod
Reason of Dowry :
Dowry, also known as Dahej, is one of our society’s deep-rooted societal problems that is
flourishing at an unprecedented rate (Paras, 1989; Prabhakar, 2012). There is no doubt that
modern individuals reject it; nonetheless, this practise differs according on area, caste, and faith.
Although determining the precise reason is challenging, here is a preliminary list of elements to consider: greed factor, male domination society, religious obligations, caste/creed regulations, lack of formal education, conservative thinking, desire to flaunt social status, low position of women, a false sense of prestige, lack of education and ignorance.
Consequences of dowry- One of the worst part of the dowry system is that if a girl brings less dowry she is harassed in her in-law’s family. Sometimes she is burnt too. Many commit suicide. Three girls in Kanpur and three in Delhi hanged themselves for this very season. There is an average of dowry death a day in Delhi alone. Such deaths in a rural area are never reported. Another worst part of this custom is that many honest people become corrupt to earn money to money their daughters. They take a bribe, do tuitions and practise unfair means in business. Taxes are not paid on this extra income. It’s unacquainted creates inflation in the country. It is said that 50% of the black money in the north is because of down
Dowry in the form of a gift.
In some of the cases, dowry can be given without any coerciveness and as a voluntary gesture to the groom and his family on the behalf of bride’s family. This can also be considered as a donation of love and care to the daughter by the family at the time of her marriage.
The reader must be aware the enlisting of reasons for dowry is not exhaustive in nature. There are many other contributing factors to dowry which makes it an evil practice.
Let us now move forward to analyze the plausible effects of dowry which make the practice of dowry a more deep-rooted influential evil system of the society.
Promotes gender discrimination and imbalance
This is a well-accepted fact that dowry as practice and a social custom encourages gender discrimination. While one gender is being dominated, the other is other becomes suppressed. The notion that the bride will have to carry a share of property and valuables along with her at the time of her marriage to the groom or his family makes her a liability for her parental home and an asset for in-laws.
Exerts an evil influence on society
Whenever we discuss the evil practices or customs prevailing and deteriorating our society, dowry is enlisted as paramount of all. Being actively practiced and widespread in masses, every family in the whole nation holds a history of giving or taking dowry. One of the most unfortunate incidents occurring due to failure of payment of dowry is mental and physical torture by the in-laws to the newly wedded bride which in worst-case scenarios even result in a life-threatening incident. The masses and the community even play a vital role in advancing the custom by judging a person’s wealth and status via leverage of the dowry given or taken. A women losses much more during her marriage than just her parental home, and dowry has made this part of her life even scarier and more threatening.
Promotes violence and crime
Undoubtedly, this evil custom promotes several life-threatening activities such as female infanticide, domestic violence, suicides, torture, harassment, and abuse. It is not a necessary factor that the crimes and outbreaks of violence occur only in the cases of nonpayment of dowry but a bride is victimized also when her parents fail to provide “sufficient” or “not according to the demand” dowry. The crime rate against women escalates drastically owing to this pattern of extortion.
CONCLUSION:
Dowry is deeply embedded in the social fabric of India. It is strongly embedded in society’s patriarchal mindset. Women became a commodity as consumerism increased. Dowry is
encouraged due to women’s disempowerment, male domination, and financial dependency on
males. The first stage in the campaign to abolish this social scourge should be to raise social consciousness among the population. In this instance, the media can be proactive. Several
legislation, notably the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, have undoubtedly been adopted, but action on the enforcement front is required. Furthermore, the government should take note of the
severe enforcement of such dowry regulations. Many women can be spared from this tragedy if
they are removed from the source of abuse in a timely manner and the perpetrators are punished
fairly. After their daughters marry, parents must be on the lookout for any suspicious injuries or bruises. If parents notice any signs of depression in her daughter’s behaviour, they must pay close
attention.
Tahir Mustafa, hailing from Rajouri, Darhal MALKAN, is a Student of Aligarh Muslim university and recepient of Indian Humanitarian Award 2020