The Dowry System In India: Analyzing Its Historical, Social, And Legal Dimensions And Their Impact On Women's Rights
Rahul Erni, BBA LLB, School of Law, Mahindra University
Introduction
From a straightforward point of a view, this tradition may be described as the unquestioning belief that the young lady's family is inferior and should not stay with the child's family, regardless of her attributes. To please the kid's relatives, they should act honourably and provide generous "endowments." A large number of Indians have this ideal so deeply ingrained in their minds that they either destroy their finances to pay for the prep at the right price, or they offer to erase the prospect of this financial weight by engaging in specialized sex in female infanticide. One of the main factors impeding the advancement of Indian society, where being a woman is still equated with being a weight, is this exploitative framework that has converted the practice of bestowing gifts and good wishes into a requirement for money, esteem, and devotion. There is a cliché that says relationships are forged in heaven. A woman of the hour departs the parental house for the married home, leaving behind pleasant memories there in the hope of discovering a new world filled with love there. The alarming increase in the number of cases, which includes pressuring recently wed young women for settlement, crushes hope. In-laws are represented as outlaws for spreading dread and destroying the couple's household. The Dowry system has always given rise to innumerable socio-economic problems with far- reaching consequences and wide-ranging ramifications. Of late, numerous incidents of bride burning, harassment and physical torture of the young brides and various kinds of pressure tactics being adopted by the husbands /in-laws pressurizing for more dowry have compelled the social reformers and the intelligentsia to give serious thought to the various aspects connected with the very institution of dowry. Deep-seated socioeconomic issues typically cannot be resolved by legislation alone. However, legislation is required to have an educational influence in addition to imposing legal penalties against this social ill with dire repercussions. The Dowry Prohibition Act was introduced in 1961; however, the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act was passed in 1984 to further close some of the Act's loopholes. It went into effect on October 2nd, 1985, requiring that lists be kept in writing and contain a brief description of each present, its approximate value, the name of the person who has given the present, and a description of the relationship if the person giving the present is related to the bride or bridegroom.
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