dowry final

7/26/2019 Dowry Final

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DOWRY

The cancer of society

Submitted to:Submitted by:

Prof. Vandana PriyankaGoyal

!" #nd Sem

$#%&'(%

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*O+T,+TS

S. +o. TOP-*

1. Acknowledgement

2. Objective of the study

3. Research ethodology

!. "ntroduction

#. $auses

%. &acts of 'owry

(. "ll e)ects of 'owry

*. +te,s taken by -overnment

. $ase +tudy

1/. 0imitations

11. +uggestions and recommendations

12. ibliogra,hy

2 ) P a g e



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deepest sense of gratitude to my guide my philosopher

lecturer Prof. Vandana for an immeasurable contribution and

encouragement, which inspires me to prepare this report. The concept of

“Project Report on “Dowry – The Cancer of the Socety! is more

relevant now than it ever has been.

Moreover I am very much thankful to my friends and library book for

further improvement of the report. inally I acknowledge my deepest

appreciation to the !"#MI$%T&'.

"Priyanka Goyal#

3 ) P a g e



-+TROD*T-O+

'owry or 'ahej is the ,ayment in cashorand

kind by the brides family to the bridegroom4s

family along with the givingaway of the bride.

'owry originated in u,,er caste families

asthe wedding gift to the bride from her

family.5he dowry was later given to hel,

withmarriage e6,enses and became a form

o7nsuar8

8ance in the case that her in8lawsmistreated

her.Although the dowry was legally ,rohibited in1%19 it continues to be highly institutionali:ed.

5he groom often demands a dowry consisting of

a large sum of money9 farm animals9 furniture9

and electronics.

5he ,ractice of dowry abuse is rising in "ndia.

5he most severe in ;bride burning<9 the burning

of women whose dowries were not considered

su=cient by their husband or in8laws. ost of

these incidents are re,orted as accidental burns

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in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide. "t is

evident that there e6ist dee, rooted ,rejudices

against women in "ndia. $ultural ,ractices suchas the ,ayment of dowry tend to subordinate

women in "ndian society.

5hough ,rohibited by law in 1%19 the e6traction

of 'O>R? from the brides family ,rior to

marriage still occurs. >hen the dowry amount is

not considered su=cient or is not forthcoming9

the bride is often harassed9 abused and made

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miserable. 5his abuse can escalate to the ,oint

where the husband or his family burn the bride9

often by ,ouring kerosene on her and lighting it9usually killing her. 5he o=cial records of these

incidents are low because they are often re,orted

as accidents or suicides by the family. "n 'elhi9 a

woman is burned to death almost every twelve

hours . 5he number of dowry murders is

increasing. "n 1**9 292/ women were killed in

dowry related incidents and in 1/9 !9*3# were

killed . "t is im,ortant to reiterate that these are

o=cial records9 which are immensely under

re,orted. 5he lack of o=cial registration of this

crime is a,,arent in 'elhi9 where ninety ,ercent

of cases of women burnt were recorded as

accidents9 7ve ,ercent as suicide and only the

remaining 7ve ,ercent were shown as murder.

According to -overnment 7gures there were

a total of #93(( dowry deaths in 139 an

increase of 12@ from 12. 'es,ite the

e6istence of rigorous laws to ,revent dowry8

deaths under a 1*% amendment to the "ndian

% ) P a g e



Penal $ode "P$B9 convictions are rare9 and judges

usually menB are often uninterested and

susce,tible to bribery. Recent news,a,er re,ortshave focused on the alarming rate of deaths of

married women in Camir,ur9 andi and ilas,ur

districts in the state of Cimachal Pradesh.

O!/,*T-V, O0 T1, STDY

5he objectives of the study are the followingD8

1.5he main objective of this ,roject is to,robe the causes of dowry and to 7nd thesolutions for the evil of dowry.

2.5o study the thinking of males for dowry.

3.5o identify the issues related to dowry.

!.5o study the laws and ,unishment fordowry.

#.5o study the role of -ovt. and societytowards dowry victims.

( ) P a g e



R,S,"R*1 ,T1ODO2OGY

,"+-+G O0 R,S,"R*1 ,T1ODO2OGY

Research ethodology9 it is a

way to systematically solve the researchProblem. "t may be understood as a science of

studying how research is done scienti7cally. "n it

we study the various ste,s that are generally

ado,ted by the researcher in studying his

research ,roblem along with the logic behind

them. "t is necessary for the researcher to know

not only the research.

Data *ollection

5he objectives of the ,roject are

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such that both ,rimary and secondary data is

reEuired to achieve them. +o both ,rimary and

secondary data was used for the ,roject. 5hemode of collecting ,rimary data is Euestionnaire

mode and sources of secondary data are various

maga:ines9 books9 news,a,ers9 F websites etc.

Primary data

5he ,rimary data are those data which are

collected afresh and for the 7rst time9 and thus

ha,,en to be original in character.

Secondary data

5he secondary data on the other

hand9 are those which have already been

collected by someone else and which have

already been ,assing through the statistical

,rocess.

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*"S,S

'owry has been a,,roved as integral com,onent

of marriage as an institution.Cowever its modes

of e6,ressions vary from ,eo,le to ,eo,le9

de,ending their educational9occu,ational9

cultural9regional and ethnicbackgrounds.'owry in

cash and gold ornamentsB occu,yeither 7rst or

second ,riority for all sections of society9 vehiclesas a third ,riority while the ,arents would go for

landed ,ro,erty or aresidential house

instead.Cigher education and occu,ation of

higher ,ositions in society have not been able to

bringchange in the attitude towards dowry.

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1B 'owry being the traditional9 done thing9

an acce,ted norm e6isting for generations to

renegade is di=cult. 5his is why dowry

continues.

2B 'owry system continues out of necessity.

G6am,lesD A family acce,ts dowry for boy in

the family even though wanting to sto, the

traditional ,racticeB out of com,ulsion that

arises because the girl in the same family

when wedded has to give dowry. 5he family

justi7es saying we take dowry for the boybecause we have to give dowry for the girl.

Another reason is when the boys father has

borrowed huge sums of money for the boys

education. 5he loan and its interest is

mounting. "t becomes im,erative for this

family to take dowry so that the money

borrowed can be returned. Often while taking

loan the money that will come into the family

from dowry is 7gured in. +o also9 most

,arents kee, saving for dowry from the time

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of birth of the female child because of the

inevitable certainly of having to ,ay dowry at

the time of girls wedding. 5hese twoe6am,les show ,ragmatic causes of dowry

system ,revailing through ages till now.

OR"-"HA0 $AI+G &OR 5CG AH$"GH5 'O>R?

+?+5G.

3B Originaly dowry acted as o)ering of

insurance ,olicy for those who got married.

'owry was safeguard for the girl in

eventuality of being deserted by husband or

becoming widow.

Other Reasons:

1. 5he ,overty in "ndia.

2. 5he low status of woman in ,ast.

3. 5he orthodo6 mentality of the ,eo,le in ,ast.

!. Provides an occasionfor ,eo,le to boosttheir

self esteem

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through feasts anddis,lays of materialobjects.

#. akes alliances withthe families of

similarstatus.

$ACTS O$ DOWR%

Dowry &er'(' )r*e prce

()owry( refers to money, goods or property that a

woman brings into the marriage * it is paid by the

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woman+s family to the man+s family. )owry is practiced

mainly in outh "sian countries, such as India.

(-ride price( refers to money, goods or property paid by

the groom or his family to the parents of the bride. It is

paid by the groom+s family to the bride+s family.

C(rrent *owry practce'

Today, dowry is a common practice in some parts of the

world, especially in outh "sia, in countries such

as India, -angladesh,Pakistan, ri #anka and epal.

)owry is most common in patrilineal societies, which

expect women to live with or near their husband/s family.

"n unusual exception to the dowry custom in outh "sia

is found in -hutan. The dowry system does not exist in

-hutan0 inheritance ismatrilineal, and daughters do not

take their father+s name at birth, nor their husband+sname upon marriage. 1ural land may be registered in a

woman+s name. 2omen own businesses, and

both polyandry and polygyny are socially accepted, with

polygyny being more prevalent. ometimes a

1! ) P a g e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_price



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrilineal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_price



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrilineal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny



prospective groom will work in the bride+s family+s

household to earn the right to marry her.

Dowry +,,n-'

The expected value of the dowry has risen in some

cultures in recent decades. This phenomenon has led to

a sharp increase in (dowry deaths( since the 3456s. "

(dowry killing( occurs when a new wife is murdered by

her husband or in*laws if they are unhappy with her,

rather than sending her back to her parents, which

would force the in*laws to return the dowry to the bride+s

parents. tatistics in India show that 467 of suchmurdered brides were educated, 867 were graduates,

and 967 were women who worked outside the home

and contributed to the family financially.:;< )owry killings

have been described by women+s rights groups as a

problem that is typically among the (emergent urban

middle class(, who aspire to greater material prosperity,

and the dowry that comes with a wife is viewed as a

means of obtaining money and consumer goods.

Murders are typically carried out by burning the bride to

death, a practice influenced by the older custom of sati ,

1# ) P a g e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry_deaths

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry#cite_note-Tanwar_2007-6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry_deaths

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry#cite_note-Tanwar_2007-6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)



where a mourning widow would die by throwing herself

onto the burning funeral pyre of her late husband.

"lthough sati has been banned since 3594, it is acustom that has been admired in the past by many

Indians as a sign of great fidelity.:5< In some instances

today, the bride is driven to commit suicide by self*

immolation following abuse by her husband and in*laws.

These deaths are also considered (dowry deaths( by

many women+s rights groups.

The practise of the dowry has been pinpointed as the

cause of these killings. %owever, the roots of the

problem, and possible solutions, are more complex.

eminists in outh "sia, such as India+s Madhu =ishwar

>editor of the )elhi*based feminist maga?ine Manushi

>point out that inheritance laws in India discriminate

against women, with inheritances being left only to sons.

This leaves women dependent upon their husbands andin*laws, who keep the dowry when she marries. :@< It has

also been pointed out that a modern complication is the

fact that young educated, middle class Indian women

experience some independence when they work outside

the home, and this may lead towards conflict with new

1% ) P a g e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry#cite_note-8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhu_Kishwar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manushi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry#cite_note-Majumdar_2005_74-7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry#cite_note-8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhu_Kishwar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manushi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry#cite_note-Majumdar_2005_74-7



in*laws who expect them to be completely obedient and

subservient.

$ensus

5hough ,rohibited by law in 1%19 the

e6traction of 'O>R? from the brides family ,rior

to marriage still occurs. >hen the dowry amount

is not considered su=cient or is not forthcoming9

the bride is often harassed9 abused and made

miserable. 5his abuse can escalate to the ,oint

where the husband or his family burn the bride9

often by ,ouring kerosene on her and lighting it9

usually killing her. 5he o=cial records of these

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incidents are low because they are often re,orted

as accidents or suicides by the family. "n 'elhi9 a

woman is burned to death almost every twelvehours . 5he number of dowry murders is

increasing. "n 1**9 292/ women were killed in

dowry related incidents and in 1/9 !9*3# were

killed . "t is im,ortant to reiterate that these are

o=cial records9 which are immensely under

re,orted. 5he lack of o=cial registration of this

crime is a,,arent in 'elhi9 where ninety ,ercent

of cases of women burnt were recorded as

accidents9 7ve ,ercent as suicide and only the

remaining 7ve ,ercent were shown as murder.

According to -overnment 7gures there were a

total of #93(( dowry deaths in 139 an increase

of 12@ from 12. 'es,ite the e6istence of

rigorous laws to ,revent dowry8deaths under a

1*% amendment to the "ndian Penal $ode "P$B9

convictions are rare9 and judges usually menB

are often uninterested and susce,tible to bribery.

Recent news,a,er re,orts have focused on the

alarming rate of deaths of married women in

1* ) P a g e



Camir,ur9 andi and ilas,ur districts in the

state of Cimachal Pradesh.

"ncidence of 'owry deaths in "ndia9 state9 year

wise

+ome more facts

• )owry system in India is as old as %istory. Anly the kind of things

given has changed.

• !)owry' can be explained as things given in cash or kind to the

bride at the time of wedding by her parents.

• In very old days, only oats, mai?e, utensils were given.

• 2ith the passage of time, things changed. tandard of given

things changed.

• =ings or wealthy people started giving gold ornaments, horses or

land.

• Poor class people had been always much affected lot.

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• In modern society, though the standard of giving dowry has gone a

drastic change.

• I think people have become more greedy now than before.

• More and more innocent girls are becoming target of evil custom of

dowry.

• %einous crimes of bride burning by their spouses and in*laws are

increasing.

• &outh should come forward to stop this evil things.

2/ ) P a g e



-223,00,*TS O0 DOWRY

"t should be very clear that this system is

,revailing not due to the unem,loyment or

illiteracy of the society. 5his is Jourishing very

well in almost every ,art of the society. 5hey may

be Gngineers9 'octors9 0awyers9 "A+9 anagers or

any res,ectable ,rofession we can think of. 5here

are strict laws against the dowry but like

corru,tion this has also become an integral ,art

of "ndian society. Gveryone knows and everyone

discusses o,enly. On mutual agreement the law

against the dowry is violated by everyone andeverywhere.

5he big and ,er,le6 Euestion is can our "ndian

society ever be free from this evil. $ould this ever

go into one of the dark and grave histories of

"ndia like $hild arriage or +ati Pratha. "f yes9

then who can and from where it can start. "t is

said that education is the solution of almost all

the ills of the society. ut in this case education is

of not that much use because more education

21 ) P a g e



and good job means eligibility for more and more

dowry.

efore going further let4s see how this system

im,acts the individual4s life and retards the

growth of women in "ndia.

5he e6istence of dowry system creates a sense of

economic fear among the ,arents of girl child. "f

it is the story of middle class then they ,refer to

have only basic higher education for their

daughter and save the money so that with the

saved money they can get e6cellent earning and

Euali7ed ,artner for their daughter4s marriage.

+ome sensitive ,arents listen to their daughter4s

wish and let her go for higher education but now

,arents always remain in an6iety to get the

money arranged for the marriage. ost of the

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http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9qo0mE2Dax0/T4CT8lnfgCI/AAAAAAAAACQ/n2RRbALxM5E/s1600/headlines-1sm.jpg



time due to lack of money for dowry9 it ends u, in

having unsuitable ,artner for the daughter and

this brings sense of guilt to ,arents.

"n some cases daughter4s love make father go to

any e6tent to arrange money for the dowry so

that his daughter can have good Euali7ed life

,artner for the rest of her life. 5hey may sell their

lands and can kee, their home on mortgage and

this makes their rest of life economically liable to

someone.

"n economically ,oor family9 the terror of dowry

leads to se6 identi7cation of foetus and then to

abortion. 5he se6 identi7cation through

ultrasound is illegal in our country but in small

cities and towns9 the identi7cation of se6 in

,regnancy is not a hard job. "f you want to knowfrom the main doctor9 you have to ,ay more

otherwise just kee, some money in the hands of

doctor4s assistant9 who takes care of ultrasound

during the ,regnancy check9 and they will tell

verbally. &rom the conte6t of "ndian society there

23 ) P a g e



are many reasons for abortion and dislike

towards the girl child but there is no doubt that

e6isting dowry system is a ,redominant one.

"n most of the ,oor and middle class families9

only the boys are given ,reference to get the

education from a good school and college and

not the girls. "f you go and ask the reason they

will say if girl is educated then they cannot get

an educated ,artner for her marriage as they are

,oor. 5he daughter listens and bears for being a

girl. +he can4t Jy and can4t dream like her

brother. +he only restricts herself in cooking9

,ainting9 and tailoring or any other household

decoration things so that at least her ,arents can

boast of these things and can get some what

good life ,artner for her.

5he e6istence of dowry makes ,eo,le corru,t.

ost of the time the cash ,aid as a dowry is

generally through corru,t route and the money

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disa,,ears without having any legal documents

or without the knowledge of income ta6 o=ce.

"n the schooldays everyone would have written

notes on the to,ic of 'owry. At that time

everyone kee,s the feeling of hatred against the

dowry. ut once grown u, and time for action

comes then forget what they have written. Gven

the ,arents do not give any lecture to their kids

on dowry because they cannot ,resent

themselves as role model to their kids in the 7ght

against the dowry. Gven mothers demand dowry

for their son. +he forgets how her father has

struggled to arrange the money to get her

married through dowry. "t seems no one is

sensitive towards others. Gveryone thinks about

themselves and for that instant only. Gveryoneone says that when the actual time comes9 one

must be ,ractical instead of becoming emotional

and sensitive towards others.

2# ) P a g e



ST,PS T"4,+ !Y GOV,R+,+T

The Do5ry Prohibition 6DP7 "ct6$8($7

"ntroduced and taken u, by then "ndian law

minister Ashoke Kumar +en9 this Act ,rohibits the

reEuest9 ,ayment or acce,tance of a dowry9 Las

consideration for the marriageL9 where LdowryL is

de7ned as a gift demanded or given as a

,recondition for a marriage. -ifts given without a

,recondition are not considered dowry9 and are

2% ) P a g e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoke_Kumar_Sen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoke_Kumar_Sen



legal. Asking or giving of dowry can be ,unished

by an im,risonment of u, to si6 months9 or a 7ne

of u, to Rs. 1#/// or the amount of dowrywhichever is higher and im,risonment u, to #

years. "t re,laced several ,ieces of anti8dowry

legislation that had been enacted by various

"ndian states.

Section & of the said "ct states:

Penalty for demandin9 do5ry.3 "f any ,erson

demands9 directly or indirectly9 from the ,arents

or other relatives or guardian of a bride or

bridegroom9 as the case may be9 any dowry9 heshall be ,unishable with im,risonment for a term

which shall not be less than si6 months9 but

which may e6tend to two years and with 7ne

which may e6tend to ten thousand ru,ees.

Provided that the $ourt may9 for an adeEuate and

s,ecial reasons to be mentioned in the judgment9

im,ose a sentence of im,risonment for a term of

less than si6 months.

Cowever9 as ,er section 3 of the Act9 both the

giver and the receiver are sought to be ,unished.

2( ) P a g e



Penalty for 9iin9 or takin9 do5ry.3 MHoteD

+ection 3 re8numbered as sub8section 1B thereof

by Act Ho.%3 of 1*!9 sec.3B 1BN "f any ,erson9after the commencement of this Act9 gives or

takes or abets the giving or taking of dowry9 he

shall be ,unishable with im,risonment for a term

which shall not be less than MHoteD +ubs. by Act

!3 of 1*%9 +ec.3B 7ve years9 and with 7ne which

shall not be less than 7fteen thousand ru,ees or

the amount of the value of such dowry9

whichever is moreDN

Provided that the $ourt may9 for a adeEuate and

s,ecial reasons to be recorded in the judgment9

im,ose a sentence of im,risonment of a term of

less than MHoteD +ubs. by Act !3 of 1*%9 +ec.3B

7ve years.N

2B MHoteD "ns. by Act %3 of 1*!9 sec.3B Hothing

is sub section 1B shall a,,ly to9 or in relation to9 8

aB Presents which are given at the time of a

marriage to the bride without any demand

having been made in that behalfB.

2* ) P a g e



bB Presents which are given at the time of a

marriage to the bridegroom without any demand

having been made in that behalfB.

Provided that such ,resents are entered in a list

maintained in accordance with the rules made

under this Act.

Provided further that where such ,resents are

made by or on behalf of the bride or any ,erson

related to the bride9 such ,resents are of a

customary nature and the value thereof is not

e6cessive having regard to the 7nancial status of

the ,erson by whom9 or on whose behalf9 such,resents are given.

-P* Section &;(

5his section9 for o)ences related to $riminal

reach of 5rust9 is usually a,,lied in investigation

of stridhan recovery from the husband and his

family.

O)ences under this section

are bailable and cogni:able.

+ection !/%.

2 ) P a g e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognizable_offence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bail

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognizable_offence



Punishment for criminal breach of trust

>hoever commits criminal breach of trust shall

be ,unished with im,risonment of either

descri,tion for a term which may e6tend to three

years9 or with 7ne9 or with both.

-P* Section <;&!

5his +ection of the "ndian Penal $ode wasinserted by a 1*% amendment. 5he wording of

the law statesD

Section <;&!. Do5ry death

1B >here the death of a woman is caused by any

burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than

under normal circumstances within seven years

of her marriage and it is shown that soon before

her death she was subjected to cruelty or

harassment by her husband or any relative of herhusband for9 or in connection with9 any demand

for dowry9 such death shall be called Ldowry

deathL and such husband or relative shall be

deemed to have caused her death.

3/ ) P a g e



,=>lanation:3&or the ,ur,ose of this sub8

section9 LdowryL shall have the same meaning as

in section 2 of the 'owry Prohibition Act9 1%1 2* of 1%1B.

2B >hoever commits dowry death shall be

,unished with im,risonment for a term which

shall not be less than seven years but which may

e6tend to im,risonment for life.

-P* Section &8?"

+ection !*A was inserted into the "ndian Penal

$ode in 1*3 via an amendment.

"t readsD

!*A. Cusband or relative of husband of a

woman subjecting her to cruelty.

>hoever9 being the husband or the relative of

the husband of a woman9 subjects such womanto cruelty shall be ,unished with im,risonment

for a term which may e6tend to three years and

shall also be liable to 7ne.

G6,lanation8&or the ,ur,ose of this section9

LcrueltyL means8

31 ) P a g e



aB Any willful conduct which is of such a nature

as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide

or to cause grave injury or danger to life9 limb orhealth whether mental or ,hysicalB of the

woman or

bB Carassment of the woman where such

harassment is with a view to coercing her or any

,erson related to her to meet any unlawful

demand for any ,ro,erty or valuable security or

is on account of failure by her or any ,erson

related to her meet such demand.

5his section is non8bailable9non8com,oundablei.e. it cannot be ,rivately resolved between the

,arties concernedB and cogni:able.

Prosecution for a non8com,oundable o)ense can

only be Euashed by a Cigh $ourt of "ndia under

its ,owers under section !*2 of $riminal

Procedure $ode of "ndia. Isually9 cases under

!*A are Euashed by mutual agreement when

the husband and wife reconcile with each other9

or agree to divorce by mutual consent.

32 ) P a g e



After registration of an &"R for a cogni:able9 non8

bailable o)ense9 the ,olice in "ndia can arrest any

and all of the accused named in the com,laint.

Status of Second 5ife under "nti3Do5ry

2a53 - @#;;?A D* #%83 !ombay 1i9h *ourt3

/ustice *.2. Pan9arkar B

RanCanaGo>alraoThorat Vs. State of

aharashatra8 Cindu arriage Act91##

+ection 1(igamy+econd wife cannot

assume a character as wife888 "t is no marriage in

eyes of lawMPg.2*/ QPara%N88 "ndian Penal

$ode+ection !*Acrueltyword ;relative<

meaning of8 ;Person who is related to husband

either by blood or marriage5hus she does not

fall within sco,e of +ection !*A88 "ndian Penal

$ode Pg.2*/ QPara%N

,ery Suicide "fter arria9e cannot be

>resumed to be Suicide due to Do5ry

Demand3 2/11M1N S$$ Page Ho.%%*8 "n 5he Cigh

$ourt of 'elhi8 Con4bler. Sustice +hiv Harayan

'hingra8 'atedD 8 2 'ecember 2/1/8 Rani Ts.

+tate of H$5 of 'elhi8 $riminal A,,eal Ho. 3 of

33 ) P a g e



2//!8 "ndian Penal $ode9 1*%/8 +ection 3/!

!*A Read >ith +ection 3!8 $onviction8

allegation of demanding of Rs.#/9///8 andscooter were vague in nature8 >hether it was

done by husband9 mother8in8law or father8in8law8

Answers to all these Euestions are absent

"ngredients of +ection 3/! "P$ were totally

absent8 Innatural 'eath can be called a dowry

death only if after making a demand made by

accused is not ful7lled by ,er,etuation of cruelty

u,on the victim8 5he list of dowry show that both

,arties belonged to ,oor strata of society8 Ho

evidence9 whatsoever was collected by ,olice

about the real facts8 Gvery suicide after marriage

cannot be ,resumed to be a suicide due to dowry

demand8 5he tendency of the court should not be

that since a young bride has died after marriage9now somebody must be held cul,rit and the

noose must be made to 7t some neck.

Domestic Violence "ct 6#;;'E#;;(7

5he above being criminal remedies9 a civil

remedy was brought into the ,icture in 2//#

3! ) P a g e



amended in 2//%B. 5his was called the

LProtection of >omen from 'omestic Tiolence

ActL.

&or the ,ur,ose of this act9 'omestic Tiolence

includes the demand for dowryD

&or the ,ur,oses of this Act9 any act9 omission or

commission or conduct of the res,ondent shall

constitute domestic violence in case it 8

aB harms or injures or endangers the health9

safety9 life9 limb or well8being9 whether mental or

,hysical9 of the aggrieved ,erson or tends to do

so and includes causing ,hysical abuse9 se6ual

abuse9 verbal and emotional abuse and economic

abuse or

bB harasses9 harms9 injures or endangers the

aggrieved ,erson with a view to coerce her or

any other ,erson related to her to meet any

unlawful demand for any do5ry or other

,ro,erty or valuable security or

cB has the e)ect of threatening the aggrieved

,erson or any ,erson related to her by any

3# ) P a g e



conduct mentioned in clause aB or clause bB

ordB otherwise injures or causes harm9 whether

,hysical or mental9 to the aggrieved ,erson.

5his Act em,owered the lower courts to issue

L,rotection ordersL on the com,laint of a woman

against her male relatives. 5he ,rotection orders

could include restraining orders on the husband

and others9 monetary com,ensation9 and

residence orders.

5hough it is a $ivil remedy9 violation of ,rotection

orders result in $riminal ,enalties including

im,risonmentB.

*"S, STDY

May 27: Young housewife burnt alive for

dowry

3% ) P a g e



2*4+OW: &or nineteen8year8old Rinki dreams

of a ha,,ily married life was never to be. arely a

month after her marriage9 she was allegedlytortured and

then set abla:e

by her in8laws for

dowry in

"ndiranagar in

the small hours

of +aturday.

'aughter of late

-yan $hand9 a

7sh contractor

who e6,ired a

year ago9 Rinki was married to Anil on A,ril 1...

Cowever9 soon after the marriage9 alakram

MAnil4s fatherN demanded a colour televisioninstead of a black and white one and a

motorcycle as well. >hen Rinki4s mother failed to

meet their demands9 the teenage housewife was

subjected to severe ,hysical torture9 allegedly by

her husband and mother8in8law... On +aturday

3( ) P a g e



morning she Mher motherN was informed that

Rinki was charred to death when a kerosene lam,

accidentally fell on her and her clothes caught7re.

Cowever9 at 7rst sight it a,,eared that the victim

was 7rst attacked as her teeth were found

broken.

3* ) P a g e



2--T"T-O+S

any ,roblems arise from this fu::y de7nition of

crime combined with draconian ,rovisions for

,unishmentD

• who decides what is a voluntary gift and

what is given under ,ressure of a demandU

5he very same family that often declares9 at

the time of marriage9 that they only gave

voluntary gifts to the grooms family9 does

not hesitate to attribute all their gift8giving

to e6tortionist demands9 once the marriage

turns sour and is headed for a breakdown.

5hus9 even when marital troubles may not be

connected to tussles over dowry9 and the

marital strain is due to mutual incom,atibilityrather than the husbands violence or abuse9

many womens families tend to seek an

advantage in registering cases using the

draconian ,rovisions of the anti8dowry law

3 ) P a g e



when the marriage heads towards a

breakdown.

• Cow do you decide what is e6cessive inrelation to income by way of gifts when in

"ndia no more than 283 ,ercent ,eo,le

declare their incomes and those too are

grossly under re,ortedU Cow do you judge

the ,aying status of a family if most of their

wealth is in black money and ,ro,erty

holdings held in bogus names to esca,e

ta6esU

• urden of ,roof on the accused D >hatmakes this law es,ecially draconian is that

the burden of ,roof has been shifted onto

the accused. 5he brides ,arents rarely want

to declare the true value of gifts given

because the big dowry givers also ,ut

together their daughters dowry from black

money and9 therefore9 dont want it listed.

!/ ) P a g e



• >hen dowry giving is a crime9 why would a

groom or brides family ,ut their signature on

the list of gifts being givenU

• +ince a good ,art of modern dowries consist

of e6,ensive jewelry9 household goods and

high ,riced clothes9 how do you ,rove

whether or not these things were transferred

to the brides name within three months of

marriageU &or e6am,le9 if a family has s,ent

Rs.38! lakh on ,roviding new furniture for

their daughters home9 does it mean that all

that furniture must be ke,t in rooms meantfor the e6clusive use of the daughterU

• As ,er the law9 even dowry giving is an

o)ence9 but there is hardly ever an instance

of the brides family being ,rosecuted for

giving dowry. 5he assum,tion is that only

takers are guilty while givers are ha,less

creatures yielding to the greed and callous

demands of the grooms family.

!1 ) P a g e



• 5he cam,aigners against dowry make it

a,,ear as if escalating dowries are solely due

to the greed of the grooms family. Cowever9as " have argued in several articles9 the

theory that growing greed is the cause of

dowry increase would make sense only if our

country had two distinct sets of families 8

those who only ,roduced sons and those who

,roduced only daughters. 5he son8blessed

families would thus be ,ermanent gainers as

dowry receivers while daughter8cursed

families would be ,ermanent victims of greed

and be always at the mercy of e6tortionist

demands. 5his is clearly not the case

because a family9 which gives on its

daughters wedding9 becomes a reci,ient

when its sons get married.

• 5his law does not take into account the

ra,idly changing forms of marriage

transactions and mi6es u, the tradition

of stridhan with modern day marriage

transactions. Gven the anti8dowry

!2 ) P a g e



cam,aigners attribute the ,roblems of the

modern day dowry system to the tradition

of stridhan9 both of which are ,rojected as ahangover of traditional ,atriarchal norms.

5he ,resent day custom of dowry giving may

retain some ingredients of the tradition of

giving stridhan a womans own inalienable

,ro,ertyB to daughters but the di)erence

between modern day dowry and stridhan is

as ,rofound as that between a horse carriage

and a motori:ed truck. 5hough both move on

wheels the ,ower that ,ro,els the two kinds

of wheels is altogether di)erent.

SGG,ST-O+S "+D

R,*O,+D"T-O+S

5he ,resent day dowry system in "ndia

symboli:es the disinheritance of women and the

!3 ) P a g e



des,eration of ,arents to ,ush their daughters

out of their homes after marrying them o)9 no

matter how this a)ects their well8being. &ailure todo so is considered a severe stigma on the

familys izzat re,utationB. +ince the woman is

being sent as a disinherited de,endent9 the

receiving family has to be com,ensated.

Once women become eEual inheritors9 ,arents

will not have to de,end only on sons and

daughters8in8law for old age security because

daughters too will be em,owered to take care of

their ,arents. 5his will make families less male8centric and therefore9 less ,rone to violent

tussles. >e need to combat the culture of

disinheritance if we wish to e)ectively combat

the growing hold of dowry culture. &or this the

following ste,s are likely to work better than anti8

dowry lawsD

• Gncourage ,arents through wides,read9 high

,ro7le cam,aigns9 to gift mainly income8

generating forms of ,ro,erty to their

!! ) P a g e



daughters land9 house or business sharesB

de,ending on the economic status of the

family.• Gncourage those ,arents who can a)ord it to

ensure that their daughter has a house9 room

or even a jhuggi in her own name so that she

is never rendered homeless9 can never be

thrown out of the house.

• Amend the Cindu +uccession Act to give

co,arcenary rights to daughters at ,ar with

sons as the states of Andhra Pradesh9

Karnataka and 5amilnadu have already done.

• Amend the Cindu +uccession Act to make it

illegal to routinely disinherit daughters

through their wills unless they can ,rovide

strong e6tenuating circumstances for doing

so.

!# ) P a g e



!-!2-OGR"P1Y

W,!S-T,S

• www.google.com

• www.wiki,edia.orgwikido5rinindia.com

"G"F-+,S !OO4S

"ndia 5oday

'owry and the "ndian +ociety D Raghu

$hawla9 Havin G0Glement "+HD

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