When Will Society Act Against Dowry?
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2021-07-02 11:06:12
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
Have you heard of Vismaya Nair?
She was a young, recently-married woman from Kerala who died days after messaging a relative that her husband had beaten her up. After her death, her parents alleged that the husband was torturing her for dowry. They had already given a car, 100 gold sovereigns and an acre of land. But he was greedy for more.
She was another statistic in the ever-increasing cases that are termed as dowry deaths.
So how do we, as a society, prevent such gross crimes against women where they are expected to bring the moon from their father's house at the time of the wedding and then keep bringing some more as and when the husband or the in-laws wish?
The law, sadly, is not enough. It has failed to act as a deterrent despite being there for more than 60 years and having such stringent provisions as to treat any unnatural death of a bride within seven years of her marriage as a case of dowry death. The punishment is also severe. Yet, one set of people keep demanding dowry and another set keeps meeting these demands.
Does this happen because society as a whole does not frown upon the practice? Giving expensive gifts and holding lavish weddings has become a rule. There was a time when people were veering towards the idea of a one-day simple wedding taking in all the rituals and ending with a lavish banquet. But that has now given way to weddings spread over 5/7 days with numerous parties, sangeet and other events, cocktails and the works, preferably at a far away destination. The simple wedding is all but forgotten.
Yet, no one raises a voice. The maxim is - if you have it, flaunt it. Well, strictly speaking, if the bride and the groom from this generation are not appalled at the vulgar display of wealth and their parents are rich enough to foot the bill, who are we to object? But when the middle or lower class tries to copy that, they almost always end up in debt and sometimes bankruptcy. Coupled with that is the demand for dowry, by whatever name called.
If the bride and the groom both do not speak out and do not opt for a simple wedding, there is little chance of eradicating this evil practice. For, there is no limit to greed and once gifts are given, there always will be a demand for more. In such a situation, the groom's family thinks that the bride's family is like an ATM. They can withdraw any amount at any time - or else the bride suffers. This has to stop and the onus of that lies on the youth of the current generation.
