A woman enters a relationship, she has a lot of healthy expectations. She aspires to have a happy married life. She would hope to become a mother one day, then a mother-in-law, a grandmother, and so on. And they are deserving of a respectable social standing. The merciless hands of dowry-related deaths have worn down all of these.

Dowry refers to the transfer of parental property when a daughter marries. Dowry is a monetary or gift payment made by the bride’s family to the groom’s family upon their marriage. Cash, jewellery, electrical appliances, furniture, crockery, cutlery, a car, and other home items may be included to assist the newlywed couple in beginning their life adventure. Dowries are still anticipated in many regions of the world and are occasionally used as a contract condition that if not met, the marriage will be annulled, especially in Asia and North Africa. The practice of dowry has become so ingrained in Indian society that it has become a societal hazard, too entrenched and diabolical to be challenged by reformers and legislators.

The dowry system in India places a significant financial strain on the bride’s family. Taking note of the importance and consequences of the problem, legislators have taken steps to close loopholes in the legislation and implement new provisions in order to make the law more sensible and effective. In 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act became the first national legislation to address the societal scourge of dowry. The purpose of this law is to outlaw the giving and receiving of dowries. The act has a variety of preventive and penal elements, but, as may be expected, the goals have not been met. The appropriate aim of criminal law is not simply dowry concerns, but also the violence associated with dowry. Due to the failure of dowry regulations and an increase in the number of dowry deaths, the Criminal Code was amended in 1983 and 1986, adding sections 304-B and 498-A.

Dowry Death-Section 304-B IPC states that the offence of “Dowry Death” is defined as a woman’s death caused by burns or bodily injury, or under unnatural circumstances, within seven years of her marriage, where it is proven that she was harassed or subjected to cruelty by her husband or his relatives in relation to dowry and is punishable for a term of seven years to life imprisonment.

The burden of proof in dowry death has been changed as mentioned in section 113B, which requires the court to presume that a dowry death was caused by the person who was proved to have subjected the woman to cruelty or harassment shortly before her death.

The police’s job in society is to protect the general public, but in reality, an act of police creates dread in the minds of the general people. The police are also accused of having attitudes, behaviours, and perceptions that make it less likely for laws to be implemented successfully in the current situation. The most common complaints made by the public against police are that they arrive too late at a crime site, misrepresent the events when recording the First Information Report, always try to portray dowry deaths as suicide, and conduct investigations in a less professional and slow manner.

Dowry death is a social blight that is a hot topic in Indian society. Deterrent punishment for dowry deaths perpetrators by women’s welfare organisations, police, public servants, and the judiciary. Changes in the educational system have improved women’s educational status, and door-to-door job services will reduce dowry deaths. Nonetheless, specific corrective measures must be implemented in order to eliminate or at least reduce the social threat of dowry death, but most crucially, a public will and determination to reject the materialistic greed of dowry demands is required.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.

We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge