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DOWRY: THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT INDIAN SOCEITY
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DOWRY: THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT INDIAN
SOCEITY
SUBMITTED BY- ANSHUMAN BISARYA
ABSTRACT
This paper would delve into the
social evil of dowry that has loomed for 60 years over the Indian society and
have taken the lives of countless innocent Indian women who have been subjected
to inhuman behaviour that they did not deserve to suffer in the first place.
The paper would be looking into Dowry and history of dowry in Indian context.
The paper would be discussing the legislations brought in with the objective to
vanquish this social evil. The paper would look into how effective these
legislations have been. The paper would look into some of the notable cases in
context of dowry such as Pawan Kumar v State of Haryana, Pratibha Devi v Suraj
Kumar and many other cases and the problems that arise out of following
practice of dowry on the Indian women. The paper would look also into stridhan
and its difference from dowry and attempt to observe and understand the
distorted understanding of the Indian society which now overlooks the sanctity
of marriage and treats it as a business deal and as a tool to fulfil their
insatiable greed.
Key words: greed, dowry death,
burning brides, harassment, social evil
RESEARCH QUESTION:
1)
Is
Dowry a social evil of the bygone era, or is it?
2)
Why
is dowry prevalent today as well?
3)
How
can people’s attitude towards dowry be changed?
INTRODUCTION
Family is the nucleus of the society.
It is essential in the society for a variety of reasons chief among them is
that it is an institution which eulogizes the hallmark of love, bonding,
harmony and understanding. Marriage is a catalyst to the creation of family.
However, there have been some social evils that have crept into and corrupted
this ‘sacred institution’. The institution of marriage suffers from a major
social evil i.e., Dowry and there have been many instances where for the dowry
the husband subjects the wife to physical as well as mental cruelty on wife.
Women are ill-treated, harassed, and in some unfortunate cases, killed, and
divorced simply because they didn’t bring dowry or could not satisfy the greed
of husband and her in-laws. There was a growing cause of concern for the social
cancer ‘dowry’ spreading itself and claiming innocent lives. There were
instances of bride burning. For a country like India where women are often
elevated to status of Goddess, this is abysmal and shows the double-faced
nature of the Indian society. And much to the dismay of the lawmakers, the
practice of dowry still persists in the Indian society albeit more discreetly.
Dowry practise is still prevalent in India and it has been accepted as a part
of tradition and custom in the Indian society. However, with the passage of
time, citizens have done their bit to resist the practise of dowry but the
society at large, irrespective of classes and financial status, dowry still is
prevalent but it has transcended in the form of gifts and has departed from
what it meant in earlier times for the women and now it has just become a tool
to satisfy the greed of the husband and his family members and because it has
integrated itself and found its acceptance at deep levels of the society, it
continues to go without much problem despite laws being there especially to
tackle and counter this problem but people with back-door channelling and
acceptance of dowry and has normalized
it as tradition and custom that must be performed and has subsequently enabled
dowry to go in and find its way in the Indian society.
I.
POSITION OF DOWRY IN LAWS
This section would look into where
dowry finds itself in Indian laws and why was there a need to bring
legislations aimed to curb the practice of dowry.
Section
2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act lays out the definition of
dowry. It states “dowry means any property or valuable security
given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly—(a) by one party to
a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or (b) by the parent of
either party to a marriage or by any other person, to either party to the
marriage or to any other person, at or
before or any time after the marriage [in connection
with the marriage of the said parties, but does not include] dower or mahr in
the case of persons to whom the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) applies.”
Section 3
of the Dowry Prohibition Act says “If any person, after the commencement
of this Act, gives or takes or abets the giving or taking of dowry, he shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five
years, and with the fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees
or the amount of the value of such dowry, whichever is more.” Cruelty
has many facets as can be observed. It
depends on a number of factors mental and physical parameters, socio-cultural background, family
background of woman etc.[1]
Section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act states “Penalty for demanding dowry- If any person demands, directly
or indirectly, from the parents or other relatives or guardian of a bride or
bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry, he shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may
extend to two years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees”
Section 498A-Husband or relative of
husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty — whoever, being the husband or the
relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty. Cruelty as
defined by Section 498A “cruelty means (a) any willful conduct which is of such
a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause gravy
injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the
woman. (b) Deals harassment
of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person
related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable
security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to
meet such demand”
Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code states “Where 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 her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry,
such death shall be called dowry death, and such husband or relative shall be
deemed to have caused her death. Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished
with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which
may extend to imprisonment for life.”
Section 113A of the Indian Evidence
Act, 1872 states “Presumption as to abetment of suicide by a
married woman.—When the question is whether the commission of suicide by a
woman had been abetted by her husband or any relative of her husband and it is
shown that she had committed suicide within a period of seven years from the
date of her marriage and that her husband or such relative of her husband had
subjected her to cruelty, the Court may presume, having regard to all the other
circumstances of the case, that such suicide had been abetted by her husband or
by such relative of her husband.”
II.
WHY WAS THERE A NEED TO COME UP WITH
ANTI-DOWRY LAWS?
The
situation of burning brides was widespread and there were lots of incidents
coming up on the national stage which created a huge uproar among the public
(ironic since public themselves are engaged in such practices). News showing
the badly burnt bodies of young brides and this got the attention of the nation
and was covered widely by the media. These incidents and reports of it were
first dismissed but later on as the gruesome practices against the women
unfolded, it got people’s attention. These were also referred to as
“stove-deaths” as it was firstly believed that the husbands and his family
would “throw stove-kerosene” on the brides and they would get burn injuries
often tragically taking their lives.[2]
The Indian government taking note of the situation setup a Law Commission. Here
is the opening paragraph from the 91st Law Commission Report
published in 1983 titled Dowry Deaths and Law reform: Amending Hindu Marriage
Act, Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act.
The
despotic situation of women in her marital home being the victim of mental
stress and cruelty and sometimes even being beaten up for dowry or to bring in
more dowry and in some instances, even death gave rise to huge uproar which led
to resentment towards the judiciary. The growing number of horrific instances
of bride burning further added an impetus to call out for an action to curb
this social evil. An amendment was introduced in the year 1983 to curb this
social cancer The extent of the evil has been commented upon by the Joint
Committee of the Houses to examine the working of the Dowry Prohibition Act,
1961. The Parliament taking note of the social evil spreading and affecting the
society decided to act. It came out with an amendment to make an impact and
lessen the number the dowry deaths. It came out with Criminal Law (Second
Amendment) Act, 1983 and added new legislations to keep a check on the social
evil. Subsequently, section 304B was
inducted in the Indian Penal Code, 1860. By the same Amendment, section 113-A
was introduced to the Indian Evidence Act with the objective to raise
presumption regarding abetment of suicide by married woman. Section 113A deals
with “When the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a
woman and it is shown that soon before her death such woman has been subjected
by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for
dowry, the Court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death.”[3]
III.
DOWRY: SOCIAL EVIL OF BYGONE ERA OR
IS IT?
This
section of the paper would look into the prospect of whether dowry as a social
evil has been eliminated from the society or not. It is disheartening to put
forth that despite laws being promulgated and enacted to tackle the social
disease called dowry and the malaise that it brings to the society has not been
totally eradicated. The Indian women are still subject to harassment for dowry
and giving dowry still is in practice. This can be seen from the National
Crimes Research Bureau that dowry still prevails in our Indian society. In the
present times, stridhan in its traditional sense has seen a deviation and now
the lines between stridhan and dowry are being intertwined and blurred.[4]
Dowry today has taken the shape of expensive material possessions and cash and
the concerning part is that “transaction is made in the name of the bride” but
it is the husband and his family who is on the receiving end of it and they are
the ones who actually possess and enjoy the contents of the “transaction”.[5]
Dowry deaths stood at 4836 for 1990 and doubled to 8383 for the year 2009.[6]
In
fact, the NCRB data showed 91,202 dowry deaths in the timeline of January 2001
to December 2012 and out of that number, 84,013 were convicted under the Dowry
Prohibition Act, 1961. And to add to the lot, about 21,922 cases were pending
from 2001 and that number increased to 29,669 in the year 2012.[7]
These statistics show a grim photo and show that the despite laws being there,
this condemnation of women arising out of greed is still taking innocent lives.
IV.
DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT: SUCCESSFUL IN
DEFENDING THE INDIAN WOMEN?
This
section of the paper would discuss whether the Dowry Prohibition Act which was
enacted in the year 1961 have slowed or restrained the social disease of dowry.
However, the NCRB data and the numbers and the cases indicate that Dowry
Prohibition Act have not made the dent that was hoped for after its enactment.
It was hoped that it serves a deterrence effect to the greedy Indian families
who subject women to inhuman behavior for fulfilling their insatiable greed.
Many scholars have put forth that the 7 years’ period should be removed from
the section and acknowledge that the abuse and the cruel and harassment do not
come along with an expiry date.[8]
Furthermore, after its enactment, the problem of dowry still pestered and, in
some cases, took lives of innocent women. The Joint Parliamentary Committee in
the year 1982 identified 2 major reasons on why this Act could not achieve what
it set out to achieve. First was the vagueness of the language used for
explaining what dowry would construe. Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act
gives room for the practice to be continued as it would be very tough to prove
that whether the presents given were in consideration for the marriage and that
nobody would willingly come out to admit that they did this because the giver
of dowry also has to face the brunt of punishment. Second defect as identified
was that the Act lacks “effective enforcement instrumentality”[9]
The reasons identified are absolutely correct and the Committee correctly read
the mind of the Indian society. No family especially most of the parents of the
woman would ever dare to do anything that could implicate the husband and his
family and thus disrupt their own daughters’ matrimonial homes. This Act was
enacted with the noble objective to shield the Indian women from the greed of
her husband and her in-laws however, it has not been entirely successful but
the entire blame should not be put on the Act. The Indian society’s mindset is
also to be equally blamed for not utilizing and unleashing the full effectives
of this legislation. The idea of dowry has been ingrained in the minds of the
Indian society that they have normalized this practice even though it is not
legal.
Dowry
as a social evil can be seen from the pages of the Indian history but this
history is nothing to be proud of or celebrate for. In fact, it is something
that we should be ashamed of. For years, The Indian society has subjected
innocent brides and their family to go through the emotions, the anxiety, the
misery, the pressure and the pain that they did not deserve in the first place.
The real problem is the society at large itself, it has normalized the practice
of dowry, either out of fear to secure a good matrimonial home for their
daughter or has started treating it as a social convention. This social evil
has manifested itself to the core of our society. In addition to treating dowry
taking as a social convention, groom’s side have started effectively auctioning
the grooms and the family who is willing to pay the highest dowry and fulfil
their demand is the one. As witnessed in few cases, the parents mortgage their
house and assets or sell them off in order to pay for the dowry demands of the
groom and his family. The poorest strata being the biggest victim of this
situation. The poor who already have lesser financial means and see the girl
child as nothing but a financial liability does their best to fulfil the dowry
demands so that they don’t have to face the society and the stigmatization that
may ensue if their daughter is unmarried and is with them. The poorest take
loans that they might not be able to repay and arranging money by other means
often push both the parents and their daughters to the brink of death because
the demands for dowry never stop and the inability of the parents to fulfil
those demands drive them to take their own lives. As identified by the Joint
Parliamentary Committee in 1982, there are issues with language with certain
key terms of the section such as dowry and as identified by the National
Commission Report, there is a grey area that can be exploited. The groom and
his family can coax the bride’s family to cough up dowry as and when they
demand under the guise of presents. Neither side will own up that they
committed an illegal act and especially the parents of the daughter who would
not do anything that could put the marriage of their daughter in jeopardy. The
Legislative must work on these recommendations and make sure that there are
tighter regulations and next to nil grey area while also preserving the aspect
of stridhan that the Hindu customs give to the parents. Both the government and
the people in this case can collectively vanquish this evil.
[1] Gourav Kumar, A study on misuse
of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, 2, International Journal of Law Management and Humanities
(2019)
[2] Chitwan Verma, Criminology and
Socio-Cultural Aspects of Anti-Dowry Law in India: A Feminist Critique, EDP Sciences, pg. 1 (2014)
[3] Indian Evidence Act, 1872 § 113A
[4] Monobina Gupta, Marching
Together: Resisting Dowry in India, pg.29 (2009)
http://www.jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dowry_infopack.pdf
[5] B. Pramilla, A Critique on
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, 76, Indian
History Congress pg. 844 (2015)
[6] Crime in India, National Crime
Research Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs (1990 and 2009)
[7] Ignatius Pereira, Rising Number
of dowry deaths in India: NCRB, The Hindu, (last visited 21st
April 2021) https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rising-number-of-dowry-deaths-in-india-ncrb/article4995677.ece
[8]Saniabou Musa, Dowry Murders in
India: The Law and its Role in the continuance of the Wife burning phenomenon,
5, Northwestern Interdisciplinary Law
Review pg. 227 (2012)
[9] Supra Note 59 at pg.79
Article Information
DOWRY: THE DARK TRUTH ABOUT INDIAN SOCEITY
Authors: ANSHUMAN BISARYA
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/09/14
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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