DOWRY: A sinful custom

India has been portrayed to be an extremely regressive society when it comes to women status, rights and conditions. When we look around the globe we find people getting disappointed on the  birth of a female or kill her before the birth in a mother's womb. The major reason for this all is "Dowry". Yes, you read it right. According to Indian National Crime Bureau report, one woman dies every ninety minutes only due to dowry. 

I would like to throw light on the fact that we have been told altered narratives about the history of dowry system and it's link with India. It is to note that except India, every other major civilization in the world had a history of dowry. Arrian and Magastheneses, who came to India in 300 BC documented a total absence of dowry system in India. Al-Biruni also observed the same. So, our historians skipped to tell us that dowry was never a indian custom. It was brought to India by the British.

No doubt there was a custom in India, popularly known as 'streedhan', in which the wealth was transferred from mother to daughter. However, Rural land was generally not transfered. In India till the British Raj,  movable wealth was controlled exclusively by women. Thus, women had a high status in the society. History reveals that British passed laws that made property tradable which only males could inherit. The British Raj would confiscate the land incase there was no male hier. Hence, the property of the parents was given to the son-in-laws and not to the daughter. This law made male child more significant and imperative. So, it is not correct to blame the "backward" Hinduism as the cause of it. It is amusing to find that the West has mocked India for women's rights while they themselves practiced and originated it. 

Dowry is defined as the transfer of parental property, money, gifts and wealth in the daughter's wedding to the in-laws. The false narrative behind giving dowry is that it helps the couple to set up a new household, especially in cultures where it is rare for a woman to work outside. It is often said that dowry helps to compensate the expenses of a groom's education and career while at the same time the bride's aspirations are given no importance and disregarded. A few families practice the custom of dowry to exhibit their social status in the society. Lack of education is another factor for the cause of dowry. Many families lack enough knowledge on laws and policies framed by the government and thus, end up getting into the vicious cycle of dowry. 

Aspirations of happy marriage are often betrayed when demands for money and goods from the groom's family put a stigma to the matrimonial alliance and turn it into a dirty contract or a money transaction. The expectations of dowry, in my perspective, mean only greed and materialistic benefits than building a genuine bond between the bride and the bridegroom. This custom causes gender inequality where the status of men is often considered more than a women. Hence, paving ways for a patriarchal society. In a aim to store enough money and assets for a girl's marriage she's often restricted from enjoying equal opportunities as her male sibling; she is deprived of basic human rights from education, freedom, justice to speech and expression. This doesn't end even here, if monetary funds of dowry doesn't satisfy the in-laws then the bride is abused and tortured. She has to go through immense mental trauma. 

Over years the government has frmed multiple policies and laws to ban the act of dowry. Dowry is illegal in India under the anti-dowry law.  The payment of dowry has long been prohibited under specific Indian laws including the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code , also the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005. Under the Dowry Prohibition Act, any act to take or give dowry is punishable in India. The punishment for violating the anti-dowry law is imprisonment for up to 5 years and fine of Rs. 15,000 or the value of dowry given, whichever is more.

However, all the efforts and thought processes  behind these laws go in vain when we find their weak implementation due to lack of participation of the masses. Under the veil of marriage, the families pay no heed to these laws and keep practising this evil custom of dowry. 

It is the need of the hour to eliminate the long practised system of dowry. And the primary catalyst for the same is education. Only education can help the society to reiterate that a girl child is an asset to the society and deserves the same status as that of a male. This would result in the rejection to practice this custom  by the young females as well as their families and Vice-versa. Also, the fourth pillar of democracy- Media can help to propagate the evilness of the dowry and reasons to stop practising it. Campaigns and social awareness  could help the information reach the masses. Hence, there are multi solutions to the problem but the question is when to start and who would initiate it.... So, volunteer it from your end "Say no to Dowry". 

In the beautiful canvas of life, there are multiple black spots like dowry in a women's life that turns it upside down. Dowry systems leads to crimes against women ranging from scolding, frightening, beating, abusing to even killing. Although, dowry don't have it's roots of origin in India but it is the major cause of all other female traumas and deaths. No society has or can   progress untill the women's is equal to that of men. Let us unite for a good cause and demolish this evil root to uplift women's social, economic and political status.