The Dowry system has been prevalent in India for a very long time. Before the British period, dowry was not considered as a “Fee” one would have to pay to be a bride's parents.
The dowry system was initially made to ensure the bride would be financially stable after marriage wherein the bride would receive various gifts such as money, land and other assets from her parents.
Under British rule however, the groom started to own all the gifts given to the bride by her parents. This happened because women were restricted from owning any land or property under British rule. This is how dowry became a system of the bride's family giving the groom's family "gifts" for marriage.
The groom's family now views the new bride as an asset who will help the family amass more wealth and the bride's family thinks of her as a liability as they lose a lot of money and property for her marriage. A woman is murdered every 20 minutes for a reason related to dowry and that is the price women have to pay for marriage.
“Avoid dowry, marry for harmony.”
A girl child is looked at as a liability by her parents because they will have to lose money and property for her marriage. This prevents them from truly loving their daughter and instead they look at them like a dark cloud over their heads.
“Dowry greed leads to heinous deeds.” Even though dowry is a punishable offence, it has not been strictly implemented. There is no restriction on the change of items and dowry given throughout marriage. Gender inequality and illiteracy are also major contributors to the continuation of the dowry system. Informing and educating society on the same will help us progress and avoid dowry as much as possible, as soon as possible. Proper implementation of strict laws against dowry will help in halting this practice for good.
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