V.Saravanan, BA LLB (Hons), Saveetha School of Law, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai -77
ABSTRACT
Dowry is the practice of adorning the bride with money or valuable gifts by the parents at the time of Marriage . The Dowry system has resulted in other social evil like female infanticide , domestic abuse , sexual harassment against women etc . The practice of the dowry system has long existed in India. The main causes of the dowry system is social status , greed , weak implementation of Anti dowry laws , lack of education etc. The Dowry system in India has resulted in the deaths of many young girls and has become a severe problem in our society and resulted in numerous marital and domestic violence that has increased the growth of dowry deaths in the country . The Practice of Dowry system leads to violence against women such as verbal abuse , domestic violence and even deaths . Brides are also being burned by the in laws , continuous physical and mental torture .The government has enacted many laws to eradicate the dowry system and over time the law has been made more rigid . The Dowry prohibition act 1961 states that a person convicted of practising the dowry system is imprisoned for five years and fined up to fifteen thousand rupees for taking dowry , giving or cooperating in its transactions. A Total number of 520 sample respondents in the age group 18-50 years are collected .By using graphical representation the dependent variables are the problems and effects of the dowry system, causes of dowry system and the methods to prevent dowry system in India and independent variables are age , gender and educational qualifications and occupation. From the survey it is found that The results shows that implementation of strict laws and educating and self dependence of women would be the best method to prevent dowry system in India .It can be concluded that dowry being considered as an illegal act and giving and taking dowry are panelized . Providing education to women and making them independent is the best way to prevent the practice of dowry and also by conducting several awareness campaigns to the people in rural areas regarding the laws and probations of the dowry system would be an alternative way . Apart from it the young boys should come forward say no to dowry and the government along with NGO should take steps to prevent this practice by creating awareness, providing legal assistance, empowering women , conducting campaigns against dowry , activities against dowry and educating women about the legal right and the implementation of laws regarding the prohibition of the practice of the dowry should be implemented properly.
Keywords: Greed Factor , Empowering women , Strict Dowry laws , Lack of education and Self dependence of women .
