DOWRY

 OPPRESSION OF INNOCENT BRIDES  

      

The Dowry Act, revised and tougher one, expected to be enforced soon with severe punishment for the dowry takers which surely is the good news for all particularly the Indian brides. The present scenario related to Dowry violence with the existing Dowry Acts and various Court orders is no good enough across the country.

  

The regular suspected burnt cases and dowry deaths makes everyone to believe that the oppression of innocent brides continues unnoticed and the avarice to dowry keeps on consuming innocent brides irrespective of caste, colour and creed. The oppression of innocent brides is there all the time and the artificial calm is no pointer to dowry related offences. On an average, every 12 hours a bride is burnt somewhere in the country.

Figures Disturbing

 According to National Crime Records Bureau figures, the bride burning cases have registered a sharp increase all over the country from 400 in early 1980’s to around 5800 a year by the middle of 1990’s. The NCRB also claim that 1948 convictions and 3876 acquittals in dowry deaths in 2008 out of 8172 reported which is about 14.4 per cent increase over 1998 level of 7146 cases.

Further, the NCRB reports say that dowry related violence has claimed around 8618 lives with 6619 cases registered under the dowry act during 2011, 8391 in 2010, 8093 in 2007 and 6995 in 2000 across the country which was 142 alone in Delhi during this period against 53 in Bengaluru, 37 in Hyderabad, 14 in Mumbai and 11 in Kolkata.    

         

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) Women & Child Development sometime back said, “I will write to the law ministry to enhance punishment for those convicted in dowry death cases to life imprisonment”. She assured the country that “the ministry is proposing all India cadre protection officers for women and we are seeking the Planning Commission’s concurrence in this”. 

Dowry avarice victimizes a bride irrespective of caste, colour & creed. Women professionally sound are not spared for lack of dowry. Gifts worth thousands of rupees besides cash are given to the boy and their parents at the time of betrothal followed by bulk at the time of marriage and it continues thereafter under various pretexts. Even our youth from IAS, IPS, IFS, CA’s, doctor’s, engineer’s easily acquiesce to this evil. In fact, the price of an Indian groom is fixed in accordance with his qualification, profession, income, caste and family background.  

        

The parents of a bride fall victim to their emotions to ensure the safety and well being of their daughters. A onetime economic involvement is not so much of a burden but the cycle is perpetuated on lifelong basis, beyond their economical resources. The daughters, in some cases force their parents for huge dowry as a measure of security and relief.

Roots of Dowry

The practice of giving dowry to a daughter is said to be as old as 4^th century BC when ‘Asura’ marriages with dowry, suggestive of sale, was prevalent and further deteriorated with the arrival of the Gupta age when the bride had to be given with a price. In fact, the dowry system originated from the rural agricultural Indian society. Once upon a time it was a legitimate and rational system since no cash transaction or any sort of compulsion was involved. The bride’s parents out of affection for their female child made a gift to her. Usually, the gifts were in the form of cattle, grains, clothes and jewellery.

         A daughter under Hindu traditional law has no share in the parental property therefore the gifts to her, during marriage, were designed in the form of a compensation. The practice of cash payments and costly items came much later almost at the beginning of the consolidation of the British rule in India which brought consciousness of the advantages of money to the Indian society and increased the demand for ready cash in addition to the gifts in a marriage. Further with the arrival of political independence in the country and widening of influence of superficial western culture, the desire for growing rich became stronger.                                 

The dowry system is prevalent among Muslims too, but it is more voluntarily than obligatory. No bargains before marriage take place. Whatever the groom’s parents give to the daughter-in-law is more or less equally matched by the bride’s parents. A daughter according to the Islamic jurisprudence receives one half of the son’s share from her father’s inheritance. A wife is entitled to one twelfth of her husband’s property after his death. If her son dies during her life time she gets one fourth of his property. But the dowry avarice there is changing mood fast.  Now, the dowry system is taking roots among them too. 

                        

Supreme Court 

The Supreme Court of India on 28 April 1987 held that in case of a dowry death it is necessary to punish with death those convicted of murdering brides by burning, for want of dowry so that it could be a deterrent to others. The court laid down in its judgement that once the accused had been proved guilty, it was the duty of the court to deal with him in the most severe and strict manner and award the maximum penalty.

        

The Dowry Prohibition Act 1986 was enacted with the view that it would put an end to dowry harassment and deaths. Stringent punishment is provided in the law from seven years to life imprisonment. The definition of the dowry death was also changed to “Death of a woman within seven years of marriage if the death was caused by burns or other bodily injuries and was proceeded by dowry related harassment”. The burden of proof was also laid down on the accused and a suicide note became admissible evidence in the court of law. The Indian Penal Code was also amended to make dowry deaths specific offences.

        

Dowry  Acts

Earlier, the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act 1984 which came into force throughout the country on Octuber 2, 1985 covered every Indian irrespective of their religion, but the definition of dowry remained unchanged in this bill. The section 174 CrPC was amended brining all suspicious deaths of women married for 10 years or less, under compulsory investigations. The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 which was enacted by the Parliament on May 20, 1961 and came into force on July 1, 1961 spread over ten sections “to prohibit the giving or taking of dowry”. What is dowry? The Act 1961 states, “Dowry means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given directly or indirectly, by one party to a marriage or by any other person to either party to the marriage or to any other person at or before or after the marriage as consideration for the marriage of the said parties”.                           

        

The rules framed under the new law requires a list of presents given to the couple, at the time of marriage, to be maintained by the bride and the bridegroom containing a brief description of each present, its appropriate value and name of the giver. Further, a clarification with regard to bride’s property the Supreme Court in its judgement of March 19, 1985 ruled that the items given in dowry to the bride and other gifts given to her exclusively belong to her. The dowry or gifts to her going by the name of “Streedhan” do not become a joint property between the bride and her husband. According to the Dowry Prohibition Act 1984 the dowry transaction to give or take or demand dowry has been regarded as cognizable offence and the fine has been increased from Rs 5,000 to 10,000 and the recognized social organizations can also lodge a complaint about a dowry offence.

Expectations           

Though, the Women Members of Parliament had earlier suggested that the dowry death victims wedding gifts should go to bride’s parents or children and the punishment needs thorough review. The new amendments in law besides provisions for stringent punishment for convicts needs to cover broadly the brides from inter–caste and religion marriages and NRI’s to ensure the post-marital safeguards for brides in the country.

Finally, the law makers need to consider that there have been a wide approval to self-selection, inter-caste and out of love-affair marriages and even these, an outcome of the new trends across the country are ultimately performed and executed as the arranged marriages with no benefit(s) or advantages to the bride’s family in terms of the Dowry or ‘Dhahej’ since the groom’s family always enforces and demonstrates a dominating and upper hand followed up with bride torture.

          Dowry evils can be arrested with the help of a vigorous campaign, mass education and stringent punishment to the guilty. Further, every child should be made to understand in the years to come that the evil of dowry is really a heinous crime against women, so that later on there will be no second thought to outrightly refuse to fall a victim.