In India marriage is one of the most important things in one’s life. Marriage is considered the beginning of lifelong commitment. People in India believe marriage is not just a physical union it is also a spiritual and emotional union. But this pure union also includes some bad practices like dowry.
The Dowry system is an ancient system in our country. Dowry is mainly money, property, jewelry, furniture, and expensive gifts given by the bride’s family to the groom’s family at the time of marriage. Early it was just a way to show love and care for the newly wedded couple but gradually it becomes a social problem.
The idea behind the dowry system was, to make sure that the bride and groom will be financially stable after getting married. But today the groom’s family demands the dowry. It varies from the job profile of the groom. Higher the education higher the dowry. This is a big concern for poor families.
There are many cases of domestic violence against women for dowry. In the year 2011, the National Crime Records Bureau reported 8,618 dowry harassment deaths. It is a punishable offense. Dowry is illegal in India since 196, but still, people openly ask for it. Dowry is a way to extract money from a girl’s family. Women are sexually assaulted and hashed for dowry. There are many cases where women are beaten to death or burn for dowry. It is a crime and this needs to be stopped.
Dowry is a gift to the bride by their parents but if the groom’s parents are demanding money to get married then that is completely wrong and illegal. Family should report such incidents Under the Dowry Prohibition Act because taking or giving dowry is illegal and it’s a crime.
