Dowry, Its Causes a nd Cons equences: A Sociological Study of Dowry Harassment and Death Cases i n Aligarh District o f U P
Journal Title: International Journal of Scientific Research and Management - Year 2017, Vol 5, Issue 10
Abstract
Dowry refers to “the property, money, ornaments or any other form of wealth which a man or his family receives from his wife or her family at the time of marriage. Dowry is both a practice and a problem with Indian marriage” (Haveripeth, 2013).The practice of giving dowry was meant to assist a newly - wed couple to start their life together with ease; however, now it has become a commercial transaction in which monetary considerations receive priority over the personal merits of the bride. Dowry system has gi ven rise to many socio economic problems with very serious consequences. Numerous incidents of bride burning, harassment and physical torture of newlywed women and various kinds of pressure tactics being adopted by the husbands/in - laws‟ pressurizing for mo re dowry have compelled the social reformers and the intelligentsia to give serious thoughts to various aspects associated with the institution of dowry ( Sachdeva , 1998 ). Government of India enacted “Dowry Prohibition Act” in 1961, which was further amended in 1985 to control this menace. In spite of this Act, the “give and take” phenomenon of dowry is practiced widely throughout India, irrespective of caste and class (Grantham, 2002). In many cases, when dowry amount is not considered sufficient, the bride is often harassed, abused and tortured (Singh, 2005). Dowry related violence and bride burning (dowry death) are only peculiar to our country and beside husband, his kin also join together in persecuting the bride as the dowry and related customs provide a good excuse to them for humiliating, insulting and even beating up of woman (Haveripeth, 2013). The bride is helpless in her new home and physically so powerless that she cannot retaliate against the coercive tactics or actions of other; not many women ha ve the guts to divorce their husbands on the ground of frequent mental or physical torture since they have nothing to fall back upon in a traditionally and poorly developed country like India (Singh, 2005).Recent studies suggest a link between domestic vio lence and dowry demands. Wife abuse has been found to be higher when a husband and/or his family believes dowry payments are inadequate(Banerjee,1999; Bloch and Rao 2002), Suran et al (2004) in a study “Does Dowry Improve life for Brides” found that, in Ba ngladesh, married females who paid dowry at marriage “have a higher likelihood of reporting domestic violence compared to those who did not; in fact, paying no dowry is just as protective, if not more so, in terms of preventing abuse as the largest dowry p ayments”. Persons participating in dowry related violence are mostly mother in - law and siblings of the husband and Gautama & Trivedi found that in a majority of cases the husband and the mother in - law of the victim played a leading role in planning and exe cution of violence against the bride. These crimes appear to be a product of socially Saira Salim, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 10 October 2017 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 7252 structured expectations about dowry giving the inferior status of women and consequently the low bargaining power of the women and her parents; the growing urban consumer ism among lower and middle class sections of the society as well as the lack of effective legal sanctions against such crimes (Haveripeth, 2013). Dowry related violence has been regarded as a universal phenomenon, cutting across all sorts of boundaries and is on continuous increase in India, it may be taken as a matter of grave concern that dowry harassment and death is one of the typical problems of Indian society (Singh, 2005).In this context it is necessary to understand the extent of dowry related viole nce and the resultant efforts made by the sufferers to stop control or overcome.
Authors and Affiliations
Saira Salim
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