Dowry Thrives In India In Gold Or Hard Cash

By Saraswathi Muniappan NEW DELHI, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- The skyrocketing gold price has not deterred the practice of giving dowry in India, instead families have become more innovative in meeting the dowry obligation. Gold, which is traditionally given by the bride's family as dowry, seems to have lost its luster especially after the commodity's price breached Rs 32,000 (RM1,747 or US$568.49) per 10gm recently. Nowadays, Indian families seem to have moved away from gold to hard cash or properties or a combination of any of the two or all three. In a modern India, the dowry system seems to have withstood the test of time and legislation barring the practice. In fact, it is thriving though many view giving dowry as a diabolic practice. Fat Indians weddings and dowry as a precondition for marriage is a norm and glamorously reported in the media though dowry is blamed for many of the cruelties against women. DOWRY HAS GONE AGAINST WOMEN Dowry, known as Stree Dhan, is actually gift items usually given to the bride by her parents and relatives at the time of marriage. In Hindu scripts, the Vedas, dowry is mentioned as Kanyadaan (gift of the maiden), said Nitasha Agarwal, chief manager of Smile Foundation, an NGO working for women's welfare and empowerment. “As the daughter in a family is not entitled for equal share in the family property, they are given gifts in the form of dowry but sometimes it is offered to entice the groom’s family. "This has obviously worked against the women and their basic rights," she said. CRUELTY TO WOMEN It is common knowledge that in most communities in India the amount of dowry given is nothing less then 100 sovereigns of gold and when a girl is born the family starts saving for her wedding immediately. "Thus girls are considered liability, therefore female foeticide and infanticide prevails,” she told Bernama in an email interview. Bollywood actor Aamir Khan in his Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails) talk show brought to light that 80 per cent of bank loans were taken by people to meet dowry demands. Moreover, the dowry demands continue even after marriage and failure to fulfill the demands lead to harassment, physical and mental torture and the horrific practice of 'bride burning' . "One woman dies every hour in India in dowry related cases," Aamir revealed in his show. Nitasha also blamed on the misplaced societal perception that if a girl is married at an early age, a small amount of dowry would work but if the girl is educated then the family has to pay a high dowry to seek a bridegroom of same status. Therefore, the dowry system to a great extent is also to be blamed for child marriages, neglect of daughters and sexual harassment. PROHIBITED BY LAW Meanwhile Dr Rizwana Parvin, a practicing lawyer in Delhi said that India has sufficient laws to protect women but has not been enforced properly and do not fully take into account several gender sensitive issues. Dowry is even banned under the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 and Section 498A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) while a host of other laws protect women against domestic violence, rape, and prohibit gender selection tests. However, there is a lack of awareness about these laws. Also, it is the fear of social stigma that stops women from seeking divorce when they suffer domestic violence due to dowry demand or any other reason. “So, women to some extent tolerate such harassment either not knowing the existence of laws that protect them or due to the mindset of how the society will look at them when they seek divorce,” she told Bernama. “I have handled a few matrimonial disputes (related to dowry and otherwise) and the women found proper justice and their needs were well taken care of. “The fact that dowry-related violence and deaths have shown no abatement in the past two decades only indicate that the existing laws have not been implemented properly and therefore failed to serve as deterrents,” said Rizwana. HIGHEST CRIME AGAINST WOMEN Thousands of women are killed every year in India over dowry. The cases of dowry-related torture are the highest accounting for 32.4 per cent of crimes against women in the country. Among the recent cases were a young woman being brutally killed allegedly by her husband for dowry in Vijapore village of Navsari district, Gujarat and a woman from Punjab claimed she was tortured by her husband and in-laws for giving birth to a girl and bringing 'inadequate' dowry. And such cases are not restricted to poor or uneducated segment of the Indian society. Early last month, a 28-year-old homemaker was allegedly murdered by her engineer husband over dowry at Motilal Mallick Lane in Baranagar, Kolkata. While the husband was arrested, the victim's mother-in-law fled. Dowry deaths continue and their perpetrators consistently go unpunished, despite a considerable amount of activism both globally and domestically and the availability of international and domestic laws, said Nitasha. A report quoting the National Crime Records Bureau’s statistics indicate a crime has been recorded against women in every three minutes in India. Every 60 minutes, two women are raped in the country. Every six hours, a young married woman is found beaten to death, burnt or driven to suicide. “Gender subordination is among the reasons for such violence against women as they are generally considered as secondary compared with men in terms of education and career,” said Nitasha. Others were institutionalisation of dowry system all across society-caste, class and religion as well as turning dowry into opportunity to make gains and as a marketing exercise. The problem is made worst by the lack of stringent action against dowry law violators, she pointed out. “Women are trying hard to save their lives and dignity with the support of legal amendments, media, serious activism, and heightened awareness. Despite of all these protests, India still could not shed the dowry stigma,” she said. IT IS STILL NOT TOO LATE The mechanism to stop crime against women should be strengthened further by making the authorities, such as police to be more sensitive in handling gender issues, said Nitasha. Firstly, there should be a proper system to report on crime against women, active and properly functioning women police cell as well as crises centres. Shelter homes had to have competent counselors and proper rehabilitation approach, she explained. Capacity building among young girls, boys and local leaders to say no to dowry is another method of weeding such problem from young. She said civil society organisations and individuals should also work on changing perception of family and society towards girl, especially parental perception towards their child and her upbringing, rights to property and awareness on laws and protection policies. “We have encourage people to start thinking positively, because when our social relationship is dictated by religion, caste and creed, we follow all that exists within. Yet when we come out from the closet, we see others as humans in our social relationship,” she said. -- BERNAMA