In India, marriage is considered an important ritual. It is believed that the marriage performed in the presence of the almighty lasts forever and gives an important meaning to life. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Marriage is a physical, legal and moral union between man and woman in complete community life for the establishment of a family." Hence, marriage is considered not only a lifetime relation of husband and wife but it abides by both spouses for seven births.
An arranged marriage is a union usually organized by the families of two people and is beneficial to both parties and their families for economic and practical opportunities. It is not focused on or based on romantic love.
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Nowadays in the Indian civilization, the dowry system has become an ailment for society which impacts the modesty of aristocrats. Dowry is not a new concept, because it has prevailed among us for a long period of time and this leads to one of the most asked questions among people that what is dowry? How and when did it start? Dowry is one of the most deep-rooted social ailments that has existed in Indian society for a long time and it increases day by day. The dowry system in society refers to giving cash, goods, property, etc to the bridegroom and his family as a condition of the so-called ritual of marriage.
Some possible factors that are motivating the common people to accept the dowry even now are the consequences of a lack of education, and lack of awareness among the brides and families regarding the existing laws that ban dowry. Most of them are ignoring their legal rights due to a lack of higher education, thus accepting whatever their guardians pass on to them.
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Dowry is exchanged to compensate for the groom's education, career, family background and property. In this way, he doesn't need to earn bread during his lifetime as he will get the money in the form of a dowry for life long. The causes are enough to cause extensive and irreversible effects and incidents of dowry-related abuse which leads to domestic violence and eventual separation or worse.
In present, India has the highest number of dowry-related deaths in the world with an average of one death due to dowry-related domestic violence every 90 Minutes. Dowry-related abuse includes mentally or physically harassing women for the demand of dowry. Torturing women to death has become a common practice in so-called civilized society.
Although this abuse has been reduced to a great extent, it is still majorly present in rural India where people lack awareness.
In short, the dowry system is not only an ailment of society but also a sin that our societies face even today after years of modernization and development. There are many effects of the dowry system that women face which has already taken many innocent lives and has caused others destruction as well.
Hence it is important to take steps even at the individual level to stop such harassment of women. Spreading awareness among the people who are unaware of their rights at the individual level will help.
(All views and opinions expressed in the article are the author’s own)
