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.
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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.
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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.