471 Words Essay on Dowry System in India
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A dowry is described as ‘the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her new husband’. In the beginning, the purpose of giving a dowry was to enable a man to take care of his family, and to give his wife and children some support if he were to die. In the Code of Hammurabi, the custom of dowry is described. It was also a form of protection for women in case they faced abuse from their husbands and in-laws. In effect, the dowry was an incentive to the husband not to harm the wife.
Dowry was practiced in Europe as well. Ancient Romans practiced dowry. Like in India, failure to provide the agreed-upon dowry could call off a marriage. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, one of Cordelia’s suitors backs off when he hears that King Lear will give her no dowry. Mumbai was given as a dowry by the Portuguese crown to the British when King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland married Princess Catherine of Braganza of Portugal in 1661.
Though the dowry system vanished in western countries, it still exists in India. This practice of ‘buying’ a husband is seen in many communities. The rise of consumerism in the 80s coincided with a spate of bride-burning cases in the name of dowry. At one time almost every day, a bride was burnt in her husband’s house for not bringing in enough dowries.In 1961, the Government of India had passed the Dowry Prohibition Act, making dowry demands illegal. But it did not eradicate the menace. After many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides and murders came to light in the 80s, there was a general outcry and the public began to call for stringent action. In 1985, the Dowry Prohibition (maintenance of lists of presents to the bride and bridegroom) rules were framed.
According to these rules, a signed list of presents given at the time of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom should be maintained. The list will describe each present, its approximate value, the name of whoever has given the present and his/her relationship to the person. But the rules were rarely enforced.
According to a 1997 report, at least 5,000 women die each year because of dowry deaths, and at least a dozen die each day in suspicious kitchen fires’. With more women becoming economically independent and aware of their rights, the dowry system has lost some of its teeth. Many women have begun rejecting men who demand dowry.Attitudes of men are also changing. Parents should first stop considering daughters as burdens to be offloaded on some man. They should also not force their daughters to return to her marital home, when they know that certain death awaits her there. Guilty husbands and in-laws should be given the death penalty.
The giving of gifts or money (otherwise known as a dowry) to a groom on behalf of the bride’s family is common practice in India, a marital tradition which dates back centuries. The dowry buys into people’s pride and desire to “save face” and the system (and exactly what is given) has substantial consequences for families and women in general. The financial restraints a dowry can place on a girl’s family coupled with the increasing abuse of the tradition on the part of the groom or his family has seen public perception of dowry giving change, with the government now stepping in to regulate its practice
The tradition of the dowry
The origins of the dowry system in India have been greatly debated. One theory is that historically parents of the bride nominally provided gifts such as jewelry and everyday household items to the bride which evolved over time to providing a sum of money to the groom’s family. Another, more patriarchal view, alleges that daughters were “given” away and that grooms were offered gifts (and eventually money) as somewhat of a bribe to ensure the fair treatment of the woman. The exact sum of money was dictated by the groom’s education and social standing, however its initial intention was to act as a safeguard should something happen to the groom in his lifetime rendering him no longer able to provide for his wife and eventual children.
The practice became commonplace during the Middle Ages, with fathers who were looking to ensure a strong family bloodline paying top price for grooms of good ancestry.
While the dowry system still exists in India today, its function has changed somewhat, becoming an unspoken mandate and being viewed these days as something of a bargaining chip when arranging marriages. The more educated a groom is, the more money his family can demand as a dowry. Parents start saving for their daughters’ dowries from birth, placing a financial burden on families of low socio-economic backgrounds.
The dark side of the dowry
The underbelly of the dowry system revolves around the treatment of brides. Referred to as “bride-burning”, the act of maiming or even killing brides whose family cannot or will not meet a groom’s dowry demands is a worrying practice in India. The National Crime Records Bureau reports that in 2010 alone, there were 8,391 dowry-related deaths in the country, representing a 0.1% increase from 2009 and almost double the number of dowry-related deaths recorded two decades ago. Only a third of all reported cases result in conviction of the offenders.
Another flow on effect of the dowry system has been the practice of female infanticide and feticide. The birth of a daughter can be a cause of great concern for families, particularly those from poorer demographics, as they must then start to figure out how they will pay a dowry when it comes time for the daughter to marry. It is alleged that this concern leads partially to female infanticide and feticide in India, though exact figures relating to this are difficult to determine. According to 2011 census data, in the age group 0-6 years, there are 914 girls to every 100 boys in India. Figures calculated by the Toronto Globalist indicate that comparing this figure to the natural male/female birth ratio show that about three million girls are “missing” from actual population numbers, while recent studies show that girls in this age group have a much higher mortality rate due to violence, negligence or murder than boys do.