Dowry System in India

Dowry System in India
In India, the dowry system refers to the bride's family as a marriage condition granted to the
bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives. Dowry emerged from the warped inheritance laws of
India, and it was appropriate to amend the Hindu Succession Act to avoid the regular
disinheritance of daughters. Dowry is basically of the form of cash payment or some kind of gifts
given to the family of the bridegroom along with the pride and includes cash, jewellery, energy,
furniture, bedding, crockery and other household items set up by the newly weds.
The dowry system was meant to place a great financial burden on the family of the bride. In
certain instances, the dowry system leads to crime, ranging from mental beyond and damage to
even death, to violence against women. Under specific Indian laws, including the Dowry
Prohibited under specific Indian law, including the Dowry Prohibition Act , 1961, and
subsequently Sections 304-B and 498-A of the IPC, the payment of dowry has long been
prohibited.1
In the context of the term proposed by the Dowry Prohibition Act, the legal meaning of dowry as
dowry is a demand for valuable security assets and an inextricable relation with marriage, i.e. For
the agreement to we d the bride to be, it is a consideration from the side of the bride's parents or
relatives to the groom or his parents or relative to the groom o his parents and guardian.
The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 Section 3 notes that the punishment for giving or receiving
dowry does not apply to gifts given to the bride or bridegroom at the time of the marriage, since
no request for them has been made.
While Indian anti-dowry laws have been in place for decades. They were accused as being
inefficient in large part. In certain parts of India, the tradition of dowry deaths and murders
continues to take place unregulated, and this has further led to compliance issues. The
bridegroom and his family were expected to be immediately arrested by IPC Section 498-A
if the wife complains of dowry violence. The statute has been extensively broken and the
1
https://www.researchgate.net/publication
Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that arrests should only be made with the permission of a
magistrate.
Causes of The Dowry

Various reasons have been suggested as cause of dowry practice in India. There include
economic factors and social factors.
Economic Factors
There are several economic factors that contributes towards the system of dowry. Any of them
include succession schemes and the economic standing of the bride.
Some recommendations refer to economics and ineffective legal institutions on succession place
women in disadvantage with inheritances beings left only to sons. This leaves women completely
reliant on their husbands and on in laws, the one who keeps the dowry when she marries. India,
in 1956, granted Hindu, Sikh and Jain daughters and sons equal legal rights, under the Hindu
Succession Act.
In their marriage, Dowry gave, at least in principle, women economic and financial protection in
the form of Marble products. This helped avoid the break-up of family wealth and sometimes
provided security for the pride. The scheme may also be seen as a pre-mortem succession, as she
might be out of the family estate until a woman is provided with moral gifts. For several people,
dowry has become a greater financial burden on the family, and, based on the demands from the
groom's side, can leave families destitute. Over time , the demand for dowry has improved.
Valuable social factors in marriage, reducing the probability of dowry over the scheme of bride
price. North, marriage typically follows a patrilocal (lives with the family of the husband)
pattern, where marriage arrangement and kinship contributes to dowry in parts of India. Perhaps
due to the exclusion of the bride's family after marriage as a form of premortem in inheritance
for the bride, this system promotes dowry.2
2
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44126922?seq=1
Marriage is most commonly done within the bride's family in the south, for instance with close
relatives or cross-cousins, and at a closer physical distance to her family. Moreover, brides may
have the potential to inherit land, which makes her more While India has been progressing
on women's rights, women continues to be in a subordinate role in their households. Some
important factors that play into the dowry system are women's education, income, and health,
and how much control a woman has over her marriage.
DOWRY DEATH
Dowry deaths refer to the suicide or killing of a bride committed soon after the marriage by her
husband and his family due to their dissatisfaction with the dowry. It is usually the result by the
husband's family of a series of previous domestic violations. Many dowry deaths occur when a
young woman commits suicide, unable to endure the abuse and torture. These suicides are often
caused by hanging, poisoning, or burning. The woman is often killed when her husband or
inlaws set her on fire; this is known as "bride burning," and is often interpreted as suicide or
accident. Death by burning Indian women has been most commonly linked to disputes over
dowry. In dowry deaths, the family of the groom is the victim of suicide or murder.
According to the Indian National Crime Record Bureau, India has the most number of dowry-
related deaths worldwide by far. 8,233 cases of dowry deaths were registered in India in
2012. This implies a bride was burnt every 90 minutes, or dowry issues are responsible for 1.4
deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.3
The term dowry was not specified in the Indian Penal Code, whereas the clarification in section
304-B stated that dowry had the same significance as that specified in section 2(1) of the Dowry
Prohibition Act,1961.
Essentials of Dowry deaths under section 304-B:-
 Death of woman must be caused by burns or bodily injury nor otherwise under
normal circumstances.
 Death should have been occurred within the 7 years of her marriage.
3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry_system_in_India
 The woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or some relative
of her husband.
 Such cruelty or abuse should be or be connected with any demand for dowry.
 Such cruelty or harassment was occurred soon before her death.
 If the death of women caused under the above conditions, the relative of the
husband and husband is assumed to have commit a dowry death and to be
responsible for the offences, unless otherwise shown.4
Punishment
Under section 304-B(2) of the IPC, any person who commits dowry death shall be punishable
with imprisonment for a period of not less than seven years. But it can extend to life
imprisonment.
4
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/

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Causes of The Dowry

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