Dowry System - a prevalent disease of society

India is well known throughout the world for its varied customs and religions. This diversity makes it unique among all the different countries in the world. Indian weddings are considered to be the most vibrant ceremonies which are equivalent to festivals in Indian culture. Marriages are an interpersonal union of not only two individuals but also their families. In societies, varied customs are followed during marriages. 

One of the traditions involved giving the bride gifts that she would require for herself and which could support her in her new household. This involved a part of the paternal property or money, all done by the parents to help their daughters when they would be starting their new journey of life.

But gradually this modest token of love started converting into an outrageous tradition. The gifts that were given by the parents to their daughters began being seen as a status symbol by the bridegroom’s family. The more a girl would bring from her home, the more would she be valued. This custom was then named as the “Dowry System”, which destroyed the lives of many girls and their families.

With the rise of the dowry system, bridegrooms and their families started preferring those girls who would bring with them monetary gains. This led to increased stress on the families having a girl child. In rural India, it created a much more profound impact. To marry a suitable boy, so that their daughter could get settled future parents started taking loans to pay up the considerable dowry that was asked by the bridegroom’s family. 

This made many of the rural households caged in the vicious cycle of debt.

The main motive of the parents then was to marry their daughter in a harmonious household, which also took away the girl’s right to education as all the money was saved from marrying her. This also increased the child marriages as dowry was considered to be less when the girl was young. The preference of a boy child also increased because of this social stigma leading to increased female foeticide.

The problems of this disease did not end even after marriage. Once the girl got married, the greedy bridegroom’s family would start demanding more to meet their needs, otherwise threatened and tortured the girl. 

Due to all these demands, the girls had to face torture until the level of quitting and committing suicide. It was studied that every four hours, one girl committed suicide because of the suffering she faced for dowry.

Even after the modernization of society, this disease has yet not been eradicated. Not only in the rural areas but individual elite members of the association follow this. Various acts were also passed to protect brides from such torturous situations. But this problem of society, which is prevalent since the older times can only be eradicated by changing the mindset of people.

Rather than setting up a price for the girl to marry a suitable boy, her education, qualities, and nature should be considered. All this would lead to the development of a peaceful and content family and would also motivate others in society to fight against this social evil.