DOWRY The cancer of society
Submitted to: Submitted by: Prof. Vandana Goyal
Priyanka MBA 2nd
Sem 1274567
1 | Page
CONTENTS S. No.
TOPIC
1.
Acknowledgement
2.
Objective of the study
3.
Research Methodology
4.
Introduction
5.
Causes
6.
Facts of Dowry
7.
Ill effects of Dowry
8.
Steps taken by Government
9.
Case Study
10.
Limitations
11.
Suggestions and recommendations
12.
Bibliography
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my deepest sense of gratitude to my guide my philosopher lecturer
Prof.
Vandana
for
an
immeasurable
contribution
and
encouragement, which inspires me to prepare this report. The concept of “Project Report on “Dowry – The Cancer of the Society” is more relevant now than it ever has been.
Moreover I am very much thankful to my friends and library book for further improvement of the report. Finally I acknowledge my deepest appreciation to the “ALMIGHTY”.
(Priyanka Goyal)
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INTRODUCTION Dowry or Dahej is the payment in cashor/and kind by the bride's family to the bridegroom’s family along with the givingaway of the bride. Dowry originated in upper caste families asthe
wedding
family.The
gift
dowry
to
was
the later
bride given
from
her
to
help
withmarriage expenses and became a form ofinsuar-ance in the case that her in-lawsmistreated her.Although the dowry was legally prohibited in 1961, it continues to be highly institutionalized. The groom often demands a dowry consisting of a large sum of money, farm animals, furniture, and electronics. The practice of dowry abuse is rising in India. The most severe in “bride burning”, the burning of women whose dowries were not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws. Most of these incidents are reported as accidental burns 4 | Page
in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide. It is evident that there exist deep rooted prejudices against women in India. Cultural practices such as the payment of dowry tend to subordinate women in Indian society.
Though prohibited by law in 1961, the extraction of DOWRY from the bride's family prior to marriage still occurs. When the dowry amount is not considered sufficient or is not forthcoming, the bride is often harassed, abused and made 5 | Page
miserable. This abuse can escalate to the point where the husband or his family burn the bride, often by pouring kerosene on her and lighting it, usually killing her. The official records of these incidents are low because they are often reported as accidents or suicides by the family. In Delhi, a woman is burned to death almost every twelve hours
.
The
number
of
dowry
murders
is
increasing. In 1988, 2,209 women were killed in dowry related incidents and in 1990, 4,835 were killed . It is important to reiterate that these are official records, which are immensely under reported. The lack of official registration of this crime is apparent in Delhi, where ninety percent of cases of women burnt were recorded as accidents, five percent as suicide and only the remaining five percent were shown as murder. According to Government figures there were a total of 5,377 dowry deaths in 1993, an increase
of
12%
from
1992.
Despite
the
existence of rigorous laws to prevent dowrydeaths under a 1986 amendment to the Indian 6 | Page
Penal Code (IPC), convictions are rare, and judges (usually
men)
are
often
uninterested
and
susceptible to bribery. Recent newspaper reports have focused on the alarming rate of deaths of married women in Hamirpur, Mandi and Bilaspur districts in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The objectives of the study are the following:1.The main objective of this project is to probe the causes of dowry and to find the solutions for the evil of dowry. 2.To study the thinking of males for dowry. 3.To identify the issues related to dowry. 4.To study the laws and punishment for dowry. 5.To study the role of Govt. towards dowry victims.
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and society
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY MEANING OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Methodology, it is a way
to
systematically
solve
the
research
Problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted
by
the
researcher
in
studying
his
research problem along with the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research. Data Collection The objectives of the project are 8 | Page
such that both primary and secondary data is required to achieve them. So both primary and secondary data was used for the project. The mode of collecting primary data is questionnaire mode and sources of secondary data are various magazines, books, newspapers, & websites etc.
Primary data The primary data are those data which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to be original in character. Secondary data The secondary data on the other hand,
are
those
which
have
already
been
collected by someone else and which have already been passing through the statistical process.
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CAUSES Dowry has been approved as integral component of marriage as an institution.However its modes of expressions vary from people to people, depending
their
educational,occupational,
cultural,regional and ethnicbackgrounds.Dowry in cash and gold (ornaments) occupyeither first or second priority for all sections of society, vehicles as a third priority while the parents would go for landed
property
instead.Higher
or
education
aresidential and
house
occupation
of
higher positions in society have not been able to bringchange in the attitude towards dowry. 10 | P a g e
1)
Dowry being the traditional, done thing,
an accepted norm existing for generations to renegade is difficult. This is why dowry continues. 2)
Dowry system continues out of necessity.
Examples: A family accepts dowry for boy in the family (even though wanting to stop the traditional practice) out of compulsion that arises because the girl in the same family when wedded has to give dowry. The family justifies saying we take dowry for the boy because we have to give dowry for the girl. Another reason is when the boy's father has borrowed huge sums of money for the boy's education.
The
loan
and
its
interest
is
mounting. It becomes imperative for this family to take dowry so that the money borrowed can be returned. Often while taking loan the money that will come into the family from dowry is figured in. So also, most parents keep saving for dowry from the time 11 | P a g e
of birth of the female child because of the inevitable certainly of having to pay dowry at the
time
of
girl's
wedding.
These
two
examples show pragmatic causes of dowry system prevailing through ages till now. ORIGINAL CAUSE FOR THE ANCIENT DOWRY SYSTEM. 3)
Originaly dowry acted as offering of
insurance policy for those who got married. Dowry
was
safeguard
for
the
girl
in
eventuality of being deserted by husband or becoming widow.
Other Reasons: 1. The poverty in India. 2. The low status of woman in past. 3. The orthodox mentality of the people in past. 4. Provides an occasionfor people to boosttheir self esteem 12 | P a g e
through feasts anddisplays of materialobjects. 5. Makes alliances withthe families of similarstatus.
FACTS OF DOWRY Dowry versus bride price "Dowry" refers to money, goods or property that a woman brings into the marriage - it is paid by the 13 | P a g e
woman's family to the man's family. Dowry is practiced mainly in South Asian countries, such as India. "Bride price" refers to money, goods or property paid by the groom or his family to the parents of the bride. It is paid by the groom's family to the bride's family.
Current dowry practices Today, dowry is a common practice in some parts of the world, especially in South Asia, in countries such as India, Bangladesh,Pakistan, Sri
Lanka and Nepal.
Dowry is most common in patrilineal societies, which expect women to live with or near their husband’s family. An unusual exception to the dowry custom in South Asia is found in Bhutan. The dowry system does not exist in Bhutan; inheritance ismatrilineal, and daughters do not take their father's name at birth, nor their husband's name upon marriage. Rural land may be registered in a woman's
name.
Women
own
businesses,
and
both polyandry and polygyny are socially accepted, with polygyny
14 | P a g e
being
more
prevalent.
Sometimes
a
prospective groom will work in the bride's family's household to earn the right to marry her.
Dowry killings The expected value of the dowry has risen in some cultures in recent decades. This phenomenon has led to a sharp increase in "dowry deaths" since the 1980s. A "dowry killing" occurs when a new wife is murdered by her husband or in-laws if they are unhappy with her, rather than sending her back to her parents, which would force the in-laws to return the dowry to the bride's parents. Statistics in India show that 90% of such murdered brides were educated, 30% were graduates, and 20% were women who worked outside the home and contributed to the family financially.[6] Dowry killings have been described by women's rights groups as a problem that is typically among the "emergent urban middle class", who aspire to greater material prosperity, and the dowry that comes with a wife is viewed as a means of obtaining money and consumer goods. Murders are typically carried out by burning the bride to death, a practice influenced by the older custom of sati, 15 | P a g e
where a mourning widow would die by throwing herself onto the burning funeral pyre of her late husband. Although sati has been banned since 1829, it is a custom that has been admired in the past by many Indians as a sign of great fidelity.[8] In some instances today, the bride is driven to commit suicide by selfimmolation following abuse by her husband and in-laws. These deaths are also considered "dowry deaths" by many women's rights groups. The practise of the dowry has been pinpointed as the cause of these killings. However, the roots of the problem, and possible solutions, are more complex. Feminists in South Asia, such as India's Madhu Kishwar —editor of the Delhi-based feminist magazine Manushi —point out that inheritance laws in India discriminate against women, with inheritances being left only to sons. This leaves women dependent upon their husbands and in-laws, who keep the dowry when she marries.[7] It has also been pointed out that a modern complication is the fact that young educated, middle class Indian women experience some independence when they work outside the home, and this may lead towards conflict with new 16 | P a g e
in-laws who expect them to be completely obedient and subservient. Census
Though prohibited by law in 1961, the extraction of DOWRY from the bride's family prior to marriage still occurs. When the dowry amount is not considered sufficient or is not forthcoming, the bride is often harassed, abused and made miserable. This abuse can escalate to the point where the husband or his family burn the bride, often by pouring kerosene on her and lighting it, usually killing her. The official records of these 17 | P a g e
incidents are low because they are often reported as accidents or suicides by the family. In Delhi, a woman is burned to death almost every twelve hours
.
The
number
of
dowry
murders
is
increasing. In 1988, 2,209 women were killed in dowry related incidents and in 1990, 4,835 were killed . It is important to reiterate that these are official records, which are immensely under reported. The lack of official registration of this crime is apparent in Delhi, where ninety percent of cases of women burnt were recorded as accidents, five percent as suicide and only the remaining five percent were shown as murder. According to Government figures there were a total of 5,377 dowry deaths in 1993, an increase of 12% from 1992. Despite the existence of rigorous laws to prevent dowry-deaths under a 1986 amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), convictions are rare, and judges (usually men) are often uninterested and susceptible to bribery. Recent newspaper reports have focused on the alarming rate of deaths of married women in 18 | P a g e
Hamirpur, Mandi and Bilaspur districts in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Incidence of Dowry deaths in India, state, year wise Some more facts
Dowry system in India is as old as History. Only the kind of things given has changed.
“Dowry” can be explained as things given in cash or kind to the bride at the time of wedding by her parents.
In very old days, only oats, maize, utensils were given.
With the passage of time, things changed. Standard of given things changed.
Kings or wealthy people started giving gold ornaments, horses or land.
Poor class people had been always much affected lot.
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In modern society, though the standard of giving dowry has gone a drastic change.
I think people have become more greedy now than before.
More and more innocent girls are becoming target of evil custom of dowry.
Heinous crimes of bride burning by their spouses and in-laws are increasing.
Youth should come forward to stop this evil things.
20 | P a g e
ILL-EFFECTS OF DOWRY It should be very clear that this system is prevailing not due to the unemployment or illiteracy of the society. This is flourishing very well in almost every part of the society. They may be Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, IAS, Managers or any respectable profession we can think of. There are strict laws against the dowry but like corruption this has also become an integral part of Indian society. Everyone knows and everyone discusses openly. On mutual agreement the law against the dowry is violated by everyone and everywhere. The big and perplex question is can our Indian society ever be free from this evil. Could this ever go into one of the dark and grave histories of India like Child Marriage or Sati Pratha. If yes, then who can and from where it can start. It is said that education is the solution of almost all the ills of the society. But in this case education is of not that much use because more education 21 | P a g e
and good job means eligibility for more and more dowry.
Before going further let’s see how this system impacts the individual’s life and retards the growth of women in India. The existence of dowry system creates a sense of economic fear among the parents of girl child. If it is the story of middle class then they prefer to have
only
basic
higher
education
for
their
daughter and save the money so that with the saved money they can get excellent earning and qualified partner for their daughter’s marriage. Some sensitive parents listen to their daughter’s wish and let her go for higher education but now parents always remain in anxiety to get the money arranged for the marriage. Most of the 22 | P a g e
time due to lack of money for dowry, it ends up in having unsuitable partner for the daughter and this brings sense of guilt to parents. In some cases daughter’s love make father go to any extent to arrange money for the dowry so that his daughter can have good qualified life partner for the rest of her life. They may sell their lands and can keep their home on mortgage and this makes their rest of life economically liable to someone. In economically poor family, the terror of dowry leads to sex identification of foetus and then to abortion.
The
sex
identification
through
ultrasound is illegal in our country but in small cities and towns, the identification of sex in pregnancy is not a hard job. If you want to know from the main doctor, you have to pay more otherwise just keep some money in the hands of doctor’s assistant, who takes care of ultrasound during the pregnancy check, and they will tell verbally. From the context of Indian society there 23 | P a g e
are
many
reasons
for
abortion
and
dislike
towards the girl child but there is no doubt that existing dowry system is a predominant one. In most of the poor and middle class families, only the boys are given preference to get the education from a good school and college and not the girls. If you go and ask the reason they will say if girl is educated then they cannot get an educated partner for her marriage as they are poor. The daughter listens and bears for being a girl. She can’t fly and can’t dream like her brother. She only restricts herself in cooking, painting, and tailoring or any other household decoration things so that at least her parents can boast of these things and can get some what good life partner for her. The existence of dowry makes people corrupt. Most of the time the cash paid as a dowry is generally through corrupt route and the money
24 | P a g e
disappears without having any legal documents or without the knowledge of income tax office. In the schooldays everyone would have written notes on the topic of Dowry. At that time everyone keeps the feeling of hatred against the dowry. But once grown up and time for action comes then forget what they have written. Even the parents do not give any lecture to their kids on
dowry
because
they
cannot
present
themselves as role model to their kids in the fight against the dowry. Even mothers demand dowry for their son. She forgets how her father has struggled to arrange the money to get her married through dowry. It seems no one is sensitive towards others. Everyone thinks about themselves and for that instant only. Everyone one says that when the actual time comes, one must be practical instead of becoming emotional and sensitive towards others.
25 | P a g e
STEPS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT The Dowry Prohibition (DP) Act(1961) Introduced and taken up by then Indian law minister Ashoke Kumar Sen, this Act prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry, "as consideration for the marriage", where "dowry" is defined as a gift demanded or given as a precondition for a marriage. Gifts given without a precondition are not considered dowry, and are 26 | P a g e
legal. Asking or giving of dowry can be punished by an imprisonment of up to six months, or a fine of up to Rs. 15000 or the amount of dowry whichever is higher and imprisonment up to 5 years. It replaced several pieces of anti-dowry legislation that had been enacted by various Indian states. Section 4 of the said Act states: Penalty for demanding dowry.- If any person demands, directly or indirectly, from the parents or other relatives or guardian of a bride or bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to two years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees. Provided that the Court may, for an adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months. However, as per section 3 of the Act, both the giver and the receiver are sought to be punished. 27 | P a g e
Penalty for giving or taking dowry.- [(Note: Section 3 re-numbered as sub-section (1) thereof by Act No.63 of 1984, sec.3) (1)] If any person, after the commencement of this Act, gives or takes or abets the giving or taking of dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than [(Note: Subs. by Act 43 of 1986, Sec.3) five years, and with fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees or the
amount
of
the
value
of
such
dowry,
whichever is more:] Provided that the Court may, for a adequate and special reasons to be recorded in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment of a term of less than [(Note: Subs. by Act 43 of 1986, Sec.3) five years.] (2) [(Note: Ins. by Act 63 of 1984, sec.3) Nothing is sub section (1) shall apply to, or in relation to, (a) Presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bride (without any demand having been made in that behalf). 28 | P a g e
(b) Presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bridegroom (without any demand having been made in that behalf). Provided that such presents are entered in a list maintained in accordance with the rules made under this Act. Provided further that where such presents are made by or on behalf of the bride or any person related to the bride, such presents are of a customary nature and the value thereof is not excessive having regard to the financial status of the person by whom, or on whose behalf, such presents are given. IPC Section 406 This section, for offences related to Criminal Breach of Trust, is usually applied in investigation of stridhan recovery from the husband and his family. Offences
under
are bailable and cognizable. Section 406. 29 | P a g e
this
section
Punishment for criminal breach of trust Whoever commits criminal breach of trust shall be
punished
with
imprisonment
of
either
description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. IPC Section 304B This Section of the Indian Penal Code was inserted by a 1986 amendment. The wording of the law states: Section 304B. Dowry death (1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called "dowry death" and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.
30 | P a g e
Explanation:-For
the
purpose
of
this
sub-
section, "dowry" shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 ( 28 of 1961). (2) Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life. IPC Section 498A Section 498A was inserted into the Indian Penal Code in 1983 via an amendment. It reads: 498A. Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty. Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation-For the purpose of this section, "cruelty" means31 | P a g e
(a) Any willful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health
whether
mental
or
physical)
of
the
woman; or (b) Harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her meet such demand. This section is non-bailable,non-compoundable (i.e. it cannot be privately resolved between the parties concerned) and cognizable. Prosecution for a non-compoundable offense can only be quashed by a High Court of India under its
powers
under
section
482
of
Criminal
Procedure Code of India. Usually, cases under 498A are quashed by mutual agreement when the husband and wife reconcile with each other, or agree to divorce by mutual consent. 32 | P a g e
After registration of an FIR for a cognizable, nonbailable offense, the police in India can arrest any and all of the accused named in the complaint. Status of Second wife under Anti-Dowry Law- I [2008] DMC 279- Bombay High CourtJustice
C.L.
RanjanaGopalraoThorat MaharashatraSection
Hindu
Pangarkar Vs.
State
Marriage
17—Bigamy—Second
— of
Act,1955—
wife
cannot
assume a character as wife--- It is no marriage in eyes of law—[Pg.280 {Para6}]-- Indian Penal Code—Section 498A—cruelty—word “relative”— meaning of- “Person who is related to husband either by blood or marriage—Thus she does not fall within scope of Section 498A-- Indian Penal Code— Pg.280 {Para6}] "Every Suicide After Marriage cannot be presumed to be Suicide due to Dowry Demand"- 2011[1] JCC Page No.668- In The High Court of Delhi- Hon’bleMr. Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra- Dated: - 2 December 2010- Rani Vs. State of NCT of Delhi- Criminal Appeal No. 93 of 33 | P a g e
2004- Indian Penal Code, 1860- Section 304B/ 498A
Read
With
Section
34-
Conviction-
allegation of demanding of Rs.50,000/- and scooter were vague in nature- Whether it was done by husband, mother-in-law or father-in-lawAnswers to all these questions are absent— Ingredients of Section 304B IPC were totally absent- Unnatural Death can be called a dowry death only if after making a demand made by accused is not fulfilled by perpetuation of cruelty upon the victim- The list of dowry show that both parties belonged to poor strata of society- No evidence, whatsoever was collected by police about the real facts- Every suicide after marriage cannot be presumed to be a suicide due to dowry demand- The tendency of the court should not be that since a young bride has died after marriage, now somebody must be held culprit and the noose must be made to fit some neck. Domestic Violence Act (2005/2006) The above being criminal remedies, a civil remedy was brought into the picture in 2005 34 | P a g e
(amended
in
2006).
This
was
called
the
"Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act". For the purpose of this act, Domestic Violence includes the demand for dowry: For the purposes of this Act, any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic violence in case it (a) harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic abuse; or (b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand
for
any
dowry or
other
property or valuable security; or (c) has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to her by any 35 | P a g e
conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or(d) otherwise injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved person. This Act empowered the lower courts to issue "protection orders" on the complaint of a woman against her male relatives. The protection orders could include restraining orders on the husband and
others,
monetary
compensation,
and
residence orders. Though it is a Civil remedy, violation of protection orders result in Criminal penalties (including imprisonment).
CASE STUDY May 27: Young housewife burnt alive for dowry
36 | P a g e
LUCKNOW: For nineteen-year-old Rinki dreams of a happily married life was never to be. Barely a month after her marriage, she was allegedly tortured
and
then set ablaze by her in-laws for dowry
in
Indiranagar
in
the small hours of
Saturday.
Daughter of late Gyan
Chand,
fish
contractor
who
expired
a a
year ago, Rinki was married to Anil on April 19... However, soon after the marriage, Balakram [Anil’s father] demanded a colour television instead
of
a
black
and
white
one
and
a
motorcycle as well. When Rinki’s mother failed to meet their demands, the teenage housewife was subjected to severe physical torture, allegedly by her husband and mother-in-law... On Saturday 37 | P a g e
morning she [her mother] was informed that Rinki was charred to death when a kerosene lamp accidentally fell on her and her clothes caught fire. However, at first sight it appeared that the victim was first attacked as her teeth were found broken.
38 | P a g e
LIMITATIONS Many problems arise from this fuzzy definition of crime combined with draconian provisions for punishment:
who decides what is a 'voluntary gift' and what is given under pressure of a demand? The very same family that often declares, at the time of marriage, that they only gave 'voluntary gifts' to the groom's family, does not hesitate to attribute all their 'gift-giving' to extortionist demands, once the marriage turns sour and is headed for a breakdown. Thus, even when marital troubles may not be connected to tussles over dowry, and the marital strain is due to mutual incompatibility rather than the husband's violence or abuse, many women's families tend to seek an advantage in registering cases using the draconian provisions of the anti-dowry law
39 | P a g e
when
the
marriage
heads
towards
a
breakdown.
How do you decide what is 'excessive' in relation to income by way of gifts when in India no more than 2-3 percent people declare their incomes and those too are grossly under reported? How do you judge the paying status of a family if most of their wealth is in 'black' money and property holdings held in bogus names to escape taxes?
Burden of proof on the accused : What makes this law especially draconian is that the burden of proof has been shifted onto the accused. The bride's parents rarely want to declare the true value of gifts given because the big dowry givers also put together their daughter's dowry from black money and, therefore, don't want it listed.
40 | P a g e
When dowry giving is a crime, why would a groom or bride's family put their signature on the list of gifts being given?
Since a good part of modern dowries consist of expensive jewelry, household goods and high priced clothes, how do you prove whether or not these things were transferred to the bride's name within three months of marriage? For example, if a family has spent Rs.3-4 lakh on providing new furniture for their daughter's home, does it mean that all that furniture must be kept in rooms meant for the exclusive use of the daughter?
As per the law, even dowry giving is an offence, but there is hardly ever an instance of the bride's family being prosecuted for giving dowry. The assumption is that only 'takers' are guilty while 'givers' are hapless creatures yielding to the greed and callous demands of the groom's family.
41 | P a g e
The campaigners against dowry make it appear as if escalating dowries are solely due to the greed of the groom's family. However, as I have argued in several articles, the theory that growing greed is the cause of dowry increase would make sense only if our country had two distinct sets of families those who only produced sons and those who produced only daughters. The 'son-blessed' families would thus be permanent gainers as dowry
receivers
while
'daughter-cursed'
families would be permanent victims of greed and be always at the mercy of extortionist demands. because
This a
is
clearly
family,
not
which
the
gives
on
case its
daughter's wedding, becomes a recipient when its sons get married.
This law does not take into account the rapidly
changing
forms
of
marriage
transactions and mixes up the tradition of stridhan with transactions. 42 | P a g e
modern Even
day the
marriage anti-dowry
campaigners attribute the problems of the modern day dowry system to the tradition of stridhan, both of which are projected as a hangover of 'traditional' patriarchal norms. The present day custom of dowry giving may retain some ingredients of the tradition of giving stridhan (a woman's own inalienable property) to daughters but the difference between modern day dowry and stridhan is as profound as that between a horse carriage and a motorized truck. Though both move on wheels the power that propels the two kinds of wheels is altogether different.
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The
present
day
dowry
system
in
India
symbolizes the disinheritance of women and the 43 | P a g e
desperation of parents to push their daughters out of their homes after marrying them off, no matter how this affects their well-being. Failure to do so is considered a severe stigma on the family's izzat (reputation). Since the woman is being sent as a disinherited dependent, the receiving family has to be compensated. Once women become equal inheritors, parents will not have to depend only on sons and daughters-in-law for old age security because daughters too will be empowered to take care of their parents. This will make families less malecentric and therefore, less prone to violent tussles. We need to combat the culture of disinheritance if we wish to effectively combat the growing hold of dowry culture. For this the following steps are likely to work better than antidowry laws:
Encourage parents through widespread, high profile campaigns, to gift mainly incomegenerating
44 | P a g e
forms
of
property
to
their
daughters (land, house or business shares) depending on the economic status of the family.
Encourage those parents who can afford it to ensure that their daughter has a house, room or even a jhuggi in her own name so that she is never rendered homeless, can never be 'thrown out of the house'.
Amend the Hindu Succession Act to give coparcenary rights to daughters at par with sons
as
the
states
of
Andhra
Pradesh,
Karnataka and Tamilnadu have already done.
Amend the Hindu Succession Act to make it illegal
to
routinely
disinherit
daughters
through their wills unless they can provide strong extenuating circumstances for doing so.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITES www.google.com www.wikipedia.org/wiki/dowrinindia.com MAGAZINES & BOOKS India Today Dowry and the Indian Society : Raghu/ Chawla,
Navin
1852309121 12/96
46 | P a g e
ELMBElement
ISBN:
