Dowry system in india Essay

Dowry is derived from the ancient Hindu customs duty of kanyadan and stridhan. In kanyadan, the engender of the bride offers the get under ones skin of the groom m one and only(a)y or property, etc.whereas for stridhan, the bride herself gets jewellery and clothes at the time of her marriage, usually from her relatives or friends. In Varadakshina, the father of the bride presents the groom cash or kind. All of these could be done voluntarily and out of affection and love.The Hindu marriage dodging is sacramental. According to this system, a marriage is forever and there is no scope for a separation. Among the mixed ceremonies previously practiced, the ceremony in front of a godly expel (Yajna in Sanskrit) has taken over, the old-fashioned system of get marrieding a wife by capture.This form of marriage began the practice of luck, where originally, the family of the bride would accept gifts and money from the grooms family as an alternative to bloodshed during the capture of t he bride. A later registration of this system has paved way for the present dowry system chiefly practiced by the society.The dowry custom continues to rule our society. In mass of Indian families, the boy has legacy rights, while the girl is given a large sum at the time of her marriage in station of the government regulated equal rights for girls in p arental property. Thus, dowry system has spread in almost all parts of the country and sections of society. at that place are several reasons for the occurrence of the dowry system, but the main one is that it is a necessary precondition for marriage. No dowry, no marriage is a widespread fear. There has as well been an appearance of a feudal prospect with a materialistic attitude in a new globalised economy.The worth tag for the groom is instantly bigger and bolder. The emergence of an affluent kernel class, the torchbearer of friendly change in modern India, is the main factor for the subsequence of the dowry system.Fam ilies arrange most marriages, and a man who does not marry for love he can marry for wealth. For this man and his family, a muliebrity becomes the ticket to shortcut riches through the system of dowry.There are a crook of things people desire to have in their consume houses but cannot afford they use the opportunity of a sons marriage to get them. The girls parents do not stand against variety, as they regard the union as a stepping-stone towards higher social status and better matches for the remaining children.Dowry as a phenomenon has foregone beyond the ritual of marriage. Pregnancy, childbirth and all kinds of religious and family functions are occasion when such demands are made. A more sophisticated public effigy of an extended gifting session has replaced the old system.Now there is demand for receptions in marriage places. The trousseau includes designer wear for the bride and grooms family. Chefs are flown in for multi-cuisine wedding dinners. The brides family usua lly pays for all this.The rich revel in the exchange of their black money, but this in turn exerts pressure on the other classes to ape them with serious social consequences. The women have become a kind of commodity.It is them who are the worst sufferers because dowry is most often a monetary agreement between two men the brides father and the groom. Caste-based practices have only added fuel to the fire. Marriages in political families are staged to consolidate the caste base for keep back in electoral politics, sothey do not challenge the dowry system. Dowry rituals have now spread even to communities where they were unknown. It has gone to different castes, crossed the boundaries of provinces and education and religion. Muslims and Christians, such as the Syrian Christians of Kerala and the Roman Catholics of Mangalore have started demanding dowry.Official statistics show a steady rise in dowry crimes. More and more women are killed every year in India for dowry. Bihar and Ut tar Pradesh still record the maximum number of dowry crimes, but Bangalore, Indias fastest growing city also shows an alarming rise four women reportedly die every solar day because of dowry harassment and domestic violence.The cases of dowry torture are the highest method of accounting for 32.4% of crimes against women in the country.The Dowry Prohibition morsel, in force since 1st July 1961, was passed with the answer of prohibiting the demanding, bad and taking of dowry.In 1980, the Government setup a military commission that recommended amendments in the Dowry Prohibition Act and also suggested expanding the definition of dowry and instituting family courts and National Commission for women. Many parliamentary debates led to some amendments in 1983,1984 and 1986.To stop the offences of cruelty by husband or his relatives on the wife, office 498-A was added in the Indian Penal Code and Section 198-A in the whitlow Procedure Code in the year 1983.The Dowry Prohibition Act clearly stipulates that a person who gives or takes or helps in the good-looking or taking of dowry can be sentenced to jail for 5 years and fined Rs. 15,000/- or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more.The Act also prohibits the giving and taking directly or indirectly any property or valuable security, any amount either in cash of kind, jewelry, articles, properties, etc. in respect of a marriage.The control is provided by stating a check and names of people gifting and their relationship to the married couple to be sign-language(a) by both sides of parents.In 1986, the Act was amended again, empowering State governments to commit Dowry Prohibition Officers, who not only had a preventive use but also had powers to collect evidence against people who took dowry.Despite profess by womens organisations, serious activism, legal amendments, special police cells for women, media support and heightened awareness of dowry being a crime, the practice continues unabated on a massive scale. Despite every stigma, dowry continues to be the signature tune of marriage.Women need real social, political, financial and moral support in their react against the system. They have to be empowered so that they can take their decisions virtually their own life by refusing the dowry system.