Madhuripu Raj & Prachi Anand, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University
ABSTRACT
Any young man, who makes a Dowry a condition to marriage, discredits his education, his country and dishonours womanhood
-Mahatma Gandhi
Since the ancient period, Dowry system has been prominent in India. The practice of giving valuable securities from the bride family to the groom family, at the time of marriage or before the marriage. At the time of colonial period, it was the only way to get married and in the British era, dowry become mandatory however, as time passed, the system developed into an evil tradition. As a result, it became necessary for the bride’s parents to give a good dowry to her in laws, regardless of whether they could afford it or not, as the married life of a girl became dependent upon dowry. Due to a lack of dowry, marriage was impossible. Girls who couldn't afford good dowries demanded by in-laws as they were forced to commit suicide because of the distress, physically and mentally harassment, humiliation, and beaten. They were also being murdered and burnt alive due to incapable to provide dowry. As per the present situation the law prohibiting dowry in any form, continues to be prevalent across all the section of the society, regardless of their caste or class. In the year 1986 new provisions were added in the Indian penal code, Evidence act to curb the increasing number of death. According to the National Crime Record Bureau, India, there is one dowry death in the country in every one hour 13 minutes.1 Therefore in country, there exist several laws for the protection of women. There is a lack of implementation of laws, as people have become so much greedy and fearless of law. I just want to 1 How Unsafe India is for Women As per the NCRB data highlights the recent case where the woman in Kerala had committed suicide due to dowry demands by her husband as per the evidence founded that husband used to beat her brutally, harassed her because the vehicle he received in dowry was not good. I have a question to all Can we assume a better India where the rights of women are not infringed? We need a stringent law that can set out an example.
Keyword: Dowry, valuable, security, bride, groom, marriage, greedy, fearless, evil, curb, suicide, murder, burn, beat, property, status, voluntary, coercive, demand, affection, unlawful, enactment, legislation, prevalent, incapacity, bill, act, eliminate, cruelty, divorce.
