Dowry Demanding Crimes

I recently signed up to receive google alerts on arranged marriage, dowry, and female feoticide. When articles are posted to the net, google sends me an e-mail with links to them. Everyday, I receive several articles on the aforementioned topics, an indication of how the problem of dowry related death and foeticide is growing in India. The stories that make it to the press are a small percentage of what actually gets reported. Fear, shame and deception keep many stories from being told.

The picture in this story is a computer screen capture of an article from The Times of India. I captured the screen (though random) because I found it an interesting juxtaposition to the hopes that young people have for a joyous matrimony through arranged marriage, which may be shattered when dowry is part of the equation.

Dowry is an integral part of arranged marriages in India; without it most women are not able to marry. This is changing in some parts of India however, as women of marrying age become scarcer, as discussed in the post: What is the Worth of a Woman?. In both instances, women are property, bought or sold. It’s hard to imagine being able to “experience the joy of marriage” in such a circumstance.

This article tells the story of a young bride whose harassment for two-lakh dowry (an equivalent of more than 5000.00 dollars) began shortly after her marriage, and the brutal lengths that her husband went to in trying to extract it from her. Dowry harassment starts after the wedding ends, even though the set amount has been previously agreed upon, a necessity to secure the engagement. In some instances, the groom and his family assured they were not interested in dowry, demanding it only after the wedding was finalized.

The article also hints at a large part of the problem – the laxity of police involvement and enforcement against the accused.

The article and the seven pages of reader’s comments that follow can be found here: Full Story