Dowry system was practiced in many parts of the world earlier, but by now it’s prevalent in only some countries like India. Earlier ‘dowry’ included gifts and jewellery that the groom gave to the bride’s family on marrying her. But over the years this system had a complete reversal, so much so that now it’s very common for groom’s side of the family to harass the bride for dowry.
Almost every other day we find in the news that the girl was harassed or beaten when she failed to fulfil the demands of her greedy husband. Many a times the bride resorts to suicide when she fails to give the promised dowry. Parents save not for their daughter’s marriage but for the dowry they’ll have to pay. Why this unnecessary custom? To take care of the greed of some people, people put their all only to face further demands. As a result dowry was banned in India but simply banning doesn’t mean it’ll stop. Dowry is still a part of most Indian weddings.
So how do we stop this social evil?
It’s not possible to crash each wedding and ask for a list of all the pleasantries exchanged. The best shot we have is spread awareness about dowry exchange and the punishment it fetches with the help of NGOs. We can also set up helpline numbers where the bride may call up and complain about dowry demands or other illegal behaviour by the groom or bride. Make sure the law is enforced. At present in India, the whole family of the groom can be put behind bars over a complaint by the bride. Hence it’s also necessary to make sure false complaints are not entertained by the bride in order to extort money from the groom’s side.
By-
Pashmina Lakhanpal
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