Dowry System And Its Drawbacks

The big fat weddings which are mostly prevailing in the Indian society has one more thing in common and i.e. the “Dowry system” which is touching the lives of rich and poor, upper class and lower class, and it is popular in almost all the religions. In the dowry system, the bride's family is forced to give gifts and cash to the groom's family. This giving of gift has no boundary. It can range from a car, to electronics (like television, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.), crockery, jewellery, utensils, furniture (like a bed, dressing table), and now the so-called modern era gifts include A.C, mobile phone, microwave, etc.

Some of the groom’s family are still not demanding money or any type of gifts from their future family. In contrast, the bride’s family is giving away as many things and gifts at the time of weeding. This is done by the bride's family by happiness and there is nothing wrong with it, as there is no pressure on the bride's family and they are giving or taking anything according to their own choice and happiness.

But demanding and pressurizing anyone to give gifts of their choice is a criminal offence and in India, this has a punishment and it can send both the groom and his family to jail. The dowry system has been prohibited in India since a long time ago and it comes under Sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

This is a greedy behaviour of the groom’s family which should be ignored by the bride’s family by declining the marriage of their daughter with these kinds of greedy families. It is because if the girl gets married to these kinds of families, then there is a possibility that they will show their real face even after the marriage as they are habituated of demanding. So, they can demand anything from the bride's family even after the marriage. But, of course, this is not the general case. It can be a specific one.

Moreover, many girls get beaten up, divorced, burnt, or even lead to death by the effect of this dowry system.

This kind of injustice to the women of India should be controlled with the help of our government rules and policies. Again, these kinds of behaviours should be controlled by taking some serious steps by the bride's family themselves. Those kinds of people should be ignored by them and our society can also contribute to it by not accepting these type of people in the society.