Indian Legal System > Civil Laws > Family Laws > The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 > Dowry and its Ill-Effects
Historical Background of Dowry:
Dowry is an ancient system under which the parents of the bride pay the bridegroom and/or his parent money, goods or estate honouring the bridegroom’s willingness to accept the bride in the marriage.
The compelling biological urge for mating amongst all animals including humans creates a magnetic pull between opposite sexes. The need for prolonged parental care in advanced animals has fashioned the concept of family. These factors have cumulatively given birth to the concept of marriage to the human race. Marriage is considered a sacred institution in Indian society. It is also considered by many as the ultimate goal to be achieved in one’s life, especially that of a woman. There are also those who feel that a woman can be happy only if married. Ideally speaking, a marriage would culminate in happiness for both a man and a woman if everything is well in that relationship.
The menace of dowry was unknown in earlier societies. Women enjoyed considerable freedom and respect in public life. Marriage was considered a sacred union. In the Vedic society dowry system was unknown. According to Hindu texts only Brahma form of marriage which was peculiar to the upper class that marriage meant the gift of a daughter with some ornaments and articles. Otherwise, the dowry system was connected with the concept of marriage as Dan or gift. In rich and royal families some gifts used to be given to son-in-law at the time of marriage. Reference of the royal brides, bringing with them the dowry of hundred Cows can be obtained. These presents, however, could hardly be called dowries for they were voluntarily made after marriage out of love & affection.
Dowry is related to an ancient Hindu concept of kanyadana and stridhana. In kanyadana, the father of the bride offers the father or groom money, property or other gifts, whereas as stridhana the bride herself gets jewelery and clothes at the time of her marriage, usually from her parents and relatives. Later ‘Kanyadan’ became associated with ‘varadakshina’.
Gradually the position of women detonated. Marriage became a commercial transaction. Bride’s father started purchasing groom in consideration of cash or kind. Dowry is the property which is obtained from the parents of the bride by the parents of the groom under duress, coercion, or pressure. It is not that property which comes from the side of the bride’s family out of their willingness. The modem dowry system has a humble beginning with a gift which was a manifestation of natural love and affection from the bride’s parents and relatives. Gradually these gifts took giant shape depending upon the living standards and status in the society. A non-dowry marriage will lower their status amongst the relatives or will prove that the son is worthless.
Consequences of Dowry:
Injustice towards girls:
The practice of dowry demeaned the value of women in our society. A dowry puts a huge financial obligation for the bride’s family. As a consequence, people started thinking that to have a daughter means losing money and to have a son is gaining money. The wife goes through trauma and mistreatment if the baby conceived is not a male. Feticide and infanticide are the effects of dowry. Though law prevents pre-Natal sex determination, greed and fear make people ignore it and deny life. Girls are often marginalized in the areas of education where boys of the family are given preference. A host of restrictions are imposed on them in the name of family honour and they are made to stay indoors.
The practices like abortion of female fetuses and killing of girl babies have resulted in an unnaturally skewed child sex ratio (CSR) in India.
Mental Torture of Women:
Inability by the girl’s family to satisfy the demands of the bridegroom and his family often leads to verbal abuse, domestic violence, and even deaths. Numerous women are undergoing harassment and physical abuse, compelling some of them either to commit suicide or ruthless killing by their husbands or in-laws who lust for dowry.
Increasing Divorces:
Broken marriages and families are the saddest things in our society today. The wretched illegal practice of dowry is responsible for this plight.
The social reform movement of the 19th century which run parallel to the national struggle for independence took up the emancipation of women as a major task. The attack was on child marriage, female infanticide, dowry system, etc. the social reform movement stressed the need for simple marriage, condemned ostentation.
The Social Movement Against Dowry System:
During the early years of the 19th century, social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy founder of the Brahma Samaj and Dayanand Sarswati founder of the Arya Samaj campaigned to raise the status of women. The Bengali reformer Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar (1820-1891), a great protagonist of widow marriages, opposed the dowry-system. He launched a campaign against the Brahmins of Bengal who enjoyed the privilege of marrying any number of wives for the sake of dowry. Such practices flourish under the belief that the prestige of the bride’s family would be raised by her marriage to a man of a higher caste.
Konosondas Mulji (1832-1872) who, in his paper, Satya Prakash campaigned against the system and advocate simple marriages. Mahatma Gandhi ran a crusade against it. He emphasized on education, inter-caste marriages and suggested to grown-up girls to resist their temptations of marrying with suitable matches.
Measures Taken by Different Provinces and States:
- In Mysore State, during the year 1933, an Act was enacted which intended to discourage, unscrupulous exaction of what is called the bridegroom’s price or Varadakshina by making it ultimately to ensure for the benefit of the bride.
- Provincial Government of Sind passed an enactment known as Sind Deti-Leti Act, 1939 with a view to deal effectively with the evil of dowry system.
- The Bihar Dowry Prohibition Act, 1950 and The Andhra Pradesh Dowry Prohibition Act, 1958 respectively, were enacted with the sole purpose of eradicating the practice of dowry system form their respective states.
- In Jammu and Kashmir Dowry Restraint Act, 1960 was enacted to curb the evil.
To actively work for creating a dowry free society without adversely affecting the institution of marriage, family structure, and implication of innocents, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 was enacted. In the next article, we shall study the Act
Next Topic: Definition of ‘Dowry’ Under the Act