🔘 DOWRY DEATH

*DOWRY DEATH:-* 

👉🏻 Introduction:-

- Dowry or Dahej is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.

- The practice of giving Dowry is very common in the Indian and South Asian cultures.

👉🏻 The Function of Dowry:-

- The family of the bride gives the groom and/or his family dowry to ensure that their daughter will be well taken care of.

- Dowry is a form of assurance that the bride will be well treated. If not, it can be revoked.

- In the event that the husband dies, the wife will be financially stable through inheritance of the dowry she paid.

👉🏻 The History of Dowry:-

- We can date the history of Dowry as far back as 1700 BC when the Code of Hammurabi was written.

- This code stated that in the death of her husband or through divorce, the wife would receive back the Dowry that she paid to him.

👉🏻 Ancient Dowry:-

- The initial role of dowry was to financially provide for the bride because she was moving into a joint family with the groom.

- Women were not allowed to work and earn a living outside of the home, so dowry was suppose to serve as her income and her contribution to the home.

👉🏻 A Twist on Dowry:-

- As times have changed, Dowry is now considered a way for a groom and his family to extort money and gifts from the bride and her family.

- Families often go broke because they are unable to supply the Dowry to the groom.

- Majority of these women come from poor to middle class homes in which their parents save for years in order to provide Dowry to the groom.

👉🏻 Dowry death:-

- Dowry death is a death of young women either by murder or suside as a resort of inability to provide more dowry to her husband and his family.

- The most common form of dowry death is ' bride burning' in which the bride is doused with gasoline or kerosene and set on fire. This is usually done by the groom or his family.

👉🏻 Dowry death statistics:-

- According to Indian National crime records bureau (NCRB) there were approximately 6787 reported dowry deaths in india in 2005.

- The NCRB also reported that there were 2276 female susides related to dowry in 2006 which amounts to 6 deaths per day.

👉🏻 Religious Influences:-

- Hinduism is the predominant religion in India.Giving of Dowry is a tradition and ritual observed in Hindu

marriages incanged marriages in are a common cultural practice.

- The Hindu religion states that mariage is a sacred

relationship and consist of dharma(obligatory

duty) and samskara (sacrament).

👉🏻 The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961:-

- In July 1961, Indian officials created The Dowry Prohibition Act which prohibits the demand, receipt. or payment of dowry in marriage.

- In this act, any gifts viewed as a precondition for marriage were punishable and illegal Punishment for receiving or giving dowry is imprisonment up to 6 years and/or a fine of 5000 Rupees or the amount of dowry which was paid (whichever is more).

👉🏻 Indian Penal Code Section 304B:-

- In 1986, this penal code was inserted into the Dowry Prohibition Act stating it a woman is burned to death or dies due tofunnatural) bodily injuries within seven years of her marriage this case will be investigated as dowry death.

- If it is proven that these women were tortured or harassed soon before her death groom and his family would be considered suspects and/or implicated in the cause of her death(deemed

dowy death)

- Punishment can range from seven years to life.

👉🏻Dowry in India now a days:-

- Despite the Dowry Prohibition Act and Indian Penal Code(304b) dowry and dowry death are still occurring in India.

- Although dowry death maybe investigated convictions are slim to none.

- The accused party states that their beloved bride" is dead as a result of a kitchen fire.

👉🏻 Gender Inequality:-

- Indian Brides and their families are the ones who suffer from the Dowry system.

- As a result of inability to provide (more) Dowry, they are often killed, harassed, tortured or commit suicide.

- The extremely poor to middle class are affected by the Dowry system.

- The groom and his family benefit from receiving Dowry and may kill the bride in order to remaity and receive dowry from another bricoland her family).

👉🏻 Preventions:-

- Women Organizations, legal amendments, media support, special police cells for women and protest are all ways people are trying to end the Dowry system in India.

- Despite their attempts dowry still continues to be a social norm in the Indian society, thus dowry deaths

continue to rise.

👉🏻 Anti-dowry organizations:-

- Azad foundation

- Bharatiya grameen mahila sangh

- ICRW (International center for Research on women)

- Lawyers collective

- Angala

- Aasra