Monday, October 13, 2008
History of Dowry
Dowry is as old as we find the written traces of it in the oldest records, such as the Code of Hammurabi (the best preserved ancient law code was created in ca. 1760 BC in ancient Babylon. It was enacted by the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi) as a pre-existing custom, prescribing only regulations for how it was to be handled and also included regulations for a bride price. If a woman died without sons, her husband had to refund the dowry but could deduct the value of the bride price; the dowry would normally have been the larger of the sums. It marks the first record of long-lasting customs, such as the wife being entitled to her dowry at her husband's death as part of her dower, her dowry being inheritable only by her own children, not by her husband's children by other women, and a woman not being entitled to a (subsequent) inheritance if her father had provided her dowry in marriage.
Govt. Policies Against Dowry
THE DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT, 1961(Act No.28 of 1961)[2Oth May. 1961]Be it enacted by Parliament in the Twelfth Year of the Republic of India as follows:1. SHORT TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT(l) This Act maybe called the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.2. DEFINITION OF "DOWRY"ln this Act, "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 parents 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 said parties but does not include dower or mahr in the case of persons to whom the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) applies.EXPLANATION I OmittedEXPLANATION II - The expression "valuable security" has the same meaning as in Sec. 30 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).3. PENALTY FOR GIVING OR TAKING DOWRYIf 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 fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees or the amount of the value of such dowry, whichever is more:Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be recorded in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than five years.Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to or, in relation to,-(a) presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bride (without any demand having been made in that behalf):Provided that such presents are entered in a list maintained in accordance with rule made under this Act;(b) presents which are given at the time of marriage to the bridegroom (without any demand having been made in that behalf):Provided that such presents are entered in a list maintained in accordance with the rules made under this Act:Provided further that where such presents are made by or on behalf of the bride or any person related to the bride, such presents are of a customary nature and the value thereof is not excessive having regard to the financial status of the person by whom, or on whose behalf, such presents are given.4. PENALTY FOR DEMANDING DOWRYIf 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:Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months.4-A. BAN ON ADVERTISEMENTIf any person ..(a) offers, through any advertisement in any newspaper, periodical, journal or through any other media, any share in his property or if any money or both as a share in any business or other interest as consideration for the marriage of his son or daughter or any other relative.(b) prints or publishes or circulates any advertisement referred to Cl. (a), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to five years, or with fine which may extend to fifteen thousand rupees:Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be recorded in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months.5. AGREEMENT FOR GIVING OR TAKING DOWRY TO BE VOIDAny agreement for the giving or taking of dowry shall be void.6. DOWRY TO BE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WIFE OR HER HEIRS(1) Where any dowry is received by any person other than the woman in connection with whose marriage it is given, that person shall transfer it to the woman-(a) if the dowry was received before marriage, within three months after the date of marriage; or(b) if the dowry was received at the time of or after the marriage within three months after the date of its receipt; or(c) if the dowry was received when the woman was a minor, within three months after she has attained the age of eighteen years.and pending such transfer, shall hold it in trust for the benefit of the woman.(2) If any person fails to transfer any property as required by sub-section (1) within the time limit specified therefor or as required by sub-section (3), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to two years or with fine which shall not be less than five thousand rupees, but which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.(3) Where the woman entitled to any property under sub-section (1) dies before receiving it, the heirs of the woman shall be entitled to claim it from the person holding it for the time being:Provided that where such woman dies within seven years of her marriage, otherwise than due to natural causes, such property shall,-(a) if she has no children, be transferred to her parents, or(b) if she had children, be transferred to such children and pending such transfer, be held in trust for such children.(3-A) Where a person convicted under sub-section (2) for failure to transfer any property as required by sub-section (1) tor sub-section (3)] has not, before his conviction under that sub-section, transferred such property to the woman entitled thereto or, as the case may be, her heirs, parents or children, the Court shall, in addition to awarding punishment under that sub-section, direct, by order in writing, that such person shall transfer the property to such woman or, as the case may be, her heirs, parents or children within such period as may be specified in the order, andif such person fails to comply with the direction within the period so specified, an amount equal to the value of the property may be recovered from him as if it were a fine imposed by such Court and paid to such woman or, as the case may be, her heirs, parents or children.(4) Nothing contained in this section shall affect provisions of Sec. 3 or Sec. 4.7. COGNIZANCE OF OFFENCENotwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974),-(a) no Court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence under this Act;(b) no Court shall take cognizance of an offence under this Act except upon-(i) its own knowledge or a police report of the facts which constitute such offence, or(ii) a complaint by the person aggrieved by offence or a parent or other relative of such person, or by any recognized welfare institution or organisation;(c) it shall be lawful for a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class to pass any sentence authorised by this Act on any person convicted of any offence under this Act.EXPLANATION.- For the purposes of this sub-section, "recognized welfare institution or organisation" means a social welfare institution or organisation recognized in this behalf by the Central or State Government.(2) Nothing in Chapter XXXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall apply to any offence punishable under this Act.(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, a statement made by the person aggrieved by the offence shall not subject such person to a prosecution under this Act.8. OFFENCES TO BE COGNIZABLE FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES AND TO BE NON-BAILABLE AND NON-COMPOUNDABLE(l ) The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall apply to offences under this Act as if they were cognizable offences(a) for the purposes of investigation of such offences, and(b) for the purpose of matters other than-(i) matters referred to in Sec. 42 of that Code, and(ii) the arrest of a person without a warrant or without an order of a Magistrate.(2) Every offence under this Act shall be non-bailable and non-compoundable.8-A. BURDEN OF PROOF IN CERTAIN CASESWhere any person is prosecuted for taking or abetting the taking of any dowry under Sec. 4, or the demanding of dowry under Sec. 4, the burden of proving that he has not committed an offence under those sections shall be on him.8-B. DOWRY PROHIBITION OFFICERS(1) The State Government may appoint as many Dowry Prohibition Officers as it thinks fit and specify the areas in respect of which they shall exercise their jurisdiction and powers under this Act.(2) Every Dowry Prohibition Officer shall exercise and perform the following powers and functions, namely: -(a) to see that the provisions of this Act are complied with;(b) to prevent, as far as possible, the taking or abetting the taking of, or the demanding of, dowry;(c) to collect such evidence as may be necessary for the prosecution of persons committing offence under the Act; and(d) to perform such additional functions as may be assigned to him by the State Government, or as may be specified in the rules made under this Act.(3) The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette confer such powers of a police officer as may be specified in the notification, on the Dowry Prohibition Officer who shall exercise such powers subject to such limitation and conditions as may be specified by rules made under this Act.(4) The State Government may, for the purpose of advising and assisting the Dowry Prohibition Officer in the efficient performance of their functions under this Act, appoint an advisory board consisting of not more than five social welfare workers (out of whom at least two shall be women) from the area in respect of which such Dowry Prohibition Officer exercises jurisdiction under-sub-section (1)9. POWER TO MAKE RULES(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for-(a) the form and manner in which, and the persons by whom, any list of presents referred to in sub-section (2) of Sec. 3 shall be maintained and all other matters connected therewith; and(b) the better co-ordination of policy and action with respect to the administration of this Act.(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before each House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect as the case may be, so, however. that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.10. POWER OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE RULES(1) The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:(a) the additional functions to be performed by the Dowry Prohibition Officers under sub-section (2) of Sec. 8-B;(b) limitations and conditions subject to which a Dowry Prohibition Officer may exercise his functions under sub- section (3) of Sec. 8-B.(3) Every rule made by the State Government under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before the State Legislature.THE DOWRY PROHIBITION (MAINTENANCE OF LISTS OF PRESENTS TO THE BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM) RULES, 1985G.S.R. 664(E), DATED 19TH AUGUST, 1985.- In exercise of the powers conferred by Sec. 9 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961(28 of 1961), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:1. SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT(1) These rules may be called the Dowry Prohibition (Maintenance of Lists of Presents to the Bride and Bridegroom) Rules, 1985.(2) They shall come into force on the 2nd day of October, 1985, being the date appointed for the coming into force of the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1984 (63 of 1984).2. RULES IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHICH LISTS OF PRESENTS ARE TO BE MAINTAINED(1) The lists of presents which are given at the time of the marriage to the bride shall be maintained by the bride.(2) The list of presents which are given at the time of the marriage to the bridegroom shall be maintained by the bridegroom.(3) Every list of presents referred to in sub-rule (1) or sub- rule (2),-(a) shall be prepared at the time of the marriage or as soon as possible after the marriage;(b) shall be in writing;(c) shall contain,-(i) a brief description of each present;(ii) the approximate value of the present;(iii) the name of the person who has given the present; and(iv) where the person giving the present is related to the bride or bridegroom, a description of such relationship;(d) shall be signed by both the bride and the bridegroom.EXPLANATION 1.-where the bride is unable to sign, she may affix her thumb-impression in lieu of her signature after having the list read out to her and obtaining the signature on the list, of the person who has so read out the particulars contained in the list.EXPLANATION 2.-where the bridegroom is unable to sign, he may affix his thumb-impression in lieu of his signature after having the list read out to him and obtaining the signature on the list to the person who has so read out the particulars contained in the list.(4) The bride or the bridegroom may, if she or he so desires, obtain on either or both of the lists referred to in sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) the signature or signatures of any relations of the bride or the bridegroom or of any other person or persons present at the time of the marriage.
What is Marriage?
In a Hindu marriage, both husband and wife are two parts of one, complementing each other and becoming one in their spiritual journey. The most sacred part of the cermony involves circumbulating the sacred fire in seven steps to a Vedic mantra where the groom addresses his wife thus"Dear Wife! By taking these seven steps, you have become my dearest friend. I pledge my unfailing loyalty to you. Let us stay together for the rest of our lives. Let us not separate from each other ever. Let us be of one mind in carrying out our responsibilities as householders (grihasthas). Let us love and cherish each other and enjoy nourishing food and good health. Let us discharge our prescribed Vedic duties to our elders, ancestors, rishis, creatures, and gods. Let our aspirations be united. I will be the Saaman and may you be the Rk (Saaman here refers to the music and Rk refers to the Vedic text that is being cast into music). Let me be the upper world and let you be the Bhumi or Mother Earth. I will be the Sukla or life force and may you be the bearer of that Sukla. Let me be the mind and let you be the speech. May you follow me to conceive children and gain worldly as well as spiritual wealth. May all auspiciousness come your way." The Vedas prescribe, as do most ancient cultures, that a dowry be given by the bride's family to the groom. The Rig Veda states that cows and gifts given by the father of the bride to the daughter accompanied the bride's procession [Rg Ved. X.85].In the Manu Smriti, on the other hand, 8 types of marriage are specified; two involve bedecking the bride with costly garments and ornaments before giving her away, two involve the groom's family giving a gift to the bride's and the other four do not involve an exchange of gifts.The Manusmriti enjoins ' Let mutual fidelity continue until death,' this may be considered as the summary of the highest law for husband and wife. [Manu IX 101].The Manu Smriti prescribed that the best partner for a man was one-third his age. "A man, aged thirty years, shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him, or a man of twenty-four a girl of eight years of age; if (the performance of) his duties would otherwise be impeded, he must marry sooner." [Manu IX.94] The girl would live with her husband after she reached puberty and consummation of the marriage would take place then.
What you can do against Dowry threats
Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code covers dowry-related harassment. As with other provisions of criminal law, a woman can use the threat of going to court to deter this kind of harassment. The Indian Penal Code also addresses dowry deaths in section 304-B. If a woman dies of "unnatural causes" within seven years of marriage and has been harassed for dowry before her death, the Courts will assume that it is a case of dowry death. The husband or in-laws will then have to prove that their harassment was not the cause of her death. A dowry death is punishable by imprisonment of at least seven years. When filing an FIR ( First Hand Report), in a case where a woman is suspected to have been murdered after a history of torture due to dowry demands, the complaint should be filed under section 304-B rather than under section 306, which deals with abetment to suicide. Section 306 should be invoked when a woman commits suicide because of dowry-related harassment.How can you participate in this campaign against dowry ..1. Sign the pledge to demonstrate solidarity2. Make a donation to an organization fighting dowry, on the occasion of your marriage or a marriage in the family or your wedding anniversary, as a gesture of support. 3. If you are a creative person - Design banners, posters and flyers.4. If you belong to some social forum, give our campaign a voice and a platform to reach out to more people 5. If you are a journalist / writer, write articles about this campaign. 6. If you belong to social organizations in India / US / any other country and are already working on dowry, help us join hands with your efforts. 7. If you are an artiste / dancer / singer / instrumentalist, please use art as a medium to voice your solidarity. 8. Share your personal stories to inspire many more.
Anti Dowry Movement
Why Women need Anti Dowry MovementThe most severe in “bride burning”, the burning of women whose dowries were not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws.Most of these incidents are reported as accidental burns in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide.Official records of these incidents are low because they are often reported as accidents or suicides by the family.In Delhi, a woman is burned to death almost every twelve hours.The number of dowry murders is increasing.In 1988, 2,209 women were killed in dowry related incidents and in 1990, 4,835 were killed.Government figures there were a total of 5,377 dowry deaths in 1993, an increase of 12% from 1992.Despite the existence of rigorous laws to prevent dowry-deaths under a 1986 amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), convictions are rare, and judges(usually men)are often uninterested and susceptible to bribery.To get rid of it,women need anti dowry movement.Anti Dowry Movements in IndiaBegining of the anti-dowry movement was in the 1970s and 1980s.The movement appeared to lose steam in the 1990s as women’s organisations dealt with a spate of other issues,but problems related to dowry continued to multiply.The women's movement in India is a rich and vibrant movement which has taken different forms in different parts of the country.The Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act (1984, 1986) makes the giving and taking of dowry "as a condition of marriage" punishable by law, while excluding "voluntary gifts" -a combination of provisions which makes for toothless sanctions.There are various movements which done by Indian Women.Some are as following1. AIDWA: It is Tripura state committee of "All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)" organised a state level convention on dowry system and atrocities against women at Rabindra Bhavan, Agartala, on August 7.At first the AIDWA state secretary Rama Das presented the resolution and future programme of the association before the house. She expressed deep concern on the rise in atrocities on woman in the recent time despite a vigorous campaign by AIDWA committees and active role of the government.State Women’s Commission chairperson Champa Dasgupta commended the AIDWA for playing a great role in the state.The AIDWA will hold a series of district and local level conventions against the dowry system, killing of brides and torture against women.2.AIWC: The All India Women's Congress (AIWC) was the first all India women's organisation.Its charter explicitly identified the organisation with the mainstream struggle for national freedom. Both bourgeois liberals and the Left joined together in the AIWC, and its formation coincided with Mahatma Gandhi's calls in the 1920s to popularise the freedom movement, to sunder the struggle from its upper caste, elite moorings.Thus the AIWC and those associated with it not only saw their role as fighting for the status and rights of women but unambiguously located this task within the agenda of the freedom struggle as a whole. This was the real strength that the women's movement acquired at its birth.It has remained a cherished tradition within the movement, a tradition that still lives and informs the movement through its ups and downs.3.NARS: This movement("Nari Atma Raksha Samity i. e. NARS") rapidly grew and developed structured links with the organised Left. Members of NARS supported and participated in the historic Tebhaga struggle. Elsewhere in the country, women with Left political leanings were involved in working class and revolutionary peasant struggles, such as the struggle in Telengana. Telengana proved a very influential learning experience for the Left, illustrating how women could fight.4.Anti-Arrack: Anti-arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh grew out the inspiration gained by women in adult literacy classes. In 1992, women of Dubagunta village in Nellore, one of the poor drought prone districts of Southern Andhra Pradesh, organised and agitated to force the closure of the arrack (liquor) shop in the village. Newspapers published this story, and women all over the state marched to arrack shops and sought to stop the auction of contracts to sell arrack.The press, in particular, Eenadu, the largest circulating Telugu daily, covered the anti-arrack movement that was spearheaded by the women for a year (Gopalakrishnaiah, 1997).But the prohibition imposed by the State in 1993 on arrack was withdrawn in 1994 as the it wanted additional revenue generated by liquor sales.The experience, however, gave the women’s groups in Andhra Pradesh new confidence and power to check the alcohol abuse by men in their families, and to prevent domestic violence by alcoholic husbands. Contribution of great women in anti dowry movements1.Sarojini Naidu: The first to join was Sarojini Naidu, who went on to become the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in 1925.Her presence was a signal for hundreds of other women to join, and eventually the salt protest was made successful by the many women who not only made salt, but also sat openly in marketplaces selling, and indeed, buying it.Sarojini Naidu's spirit lives on in thousands of Indian women today.2.Rojammas: A poor woman from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, attended a literacy class.It talked about a poor woman, struggling to make ends meet, who was regularly beaten by her husband. Whatever he earned, he spent on liquor, and then, drunk and violent, he attacked her because she had no food to give him.Rojamma collected her friends together, and they began to picket liquor shops. The campaign spread like wildfire. In village after village, women got together, they talked, they went on strike, they beat up liquor shop owners, they refused to allow their husbands to squander money on liquor.The sale of liquor was banned in Andhra Pradesh, reluctantly, by the government for liquor brings in huge amounts of money. As a result, savings went up, violence levels dropped, and the lives of poor women began to improve.3.Indira Gandhi: Indira Gandhi's government declared a State of Emergency in 1975, putting a stop to all democratic political activity. Activists, both young and old, women and men, were forced to go underground or to stop all political work. It was only when the Emergency was lifted, some 18 months later, that overground political activity resumed. It was around this time that many of the contemporary women's groups began to get formed, with their members often being women with a history of involvement in other political movements.
The hundreds of thousands of Rojammas and Sarojini Naidus who are to be found all over India form part of one of the most dynamic and vibrant of political movements in India today, the women's movement.
Why do dowry deaths occur?
Why do dowry deaths occur? This was the central point of concern of a sociological study by Nalini Singh based on a survey of the marriages of 38 young women, aged 17-24 years, in each of which the wife died an unnatural death, reportedly due to harassment over dowry. She suggested that it is primarily the societal perception of woman being less productive than man that define woman's place in society. This manifests in what she calls "Zero-political Status", and denial of basic civil rights to them. She observes that dowry is a clear affirmation of the fact that one's gender determines one's worth or significance. Since worth is distributed unequally amongst the sexes at birth, worth-deficiency amongst females can be offset by material additives that is dowry. The roots of this worth deficiency of women are so deep-rooted that even the brides who earn more than their husbands are made to feel an obligation to supply dowry goods and services along after their marriage just as are the women who earn nothing.
The dowry deaths, therefore, she observes, do not occur because there is a mismatch between gifts demanded by in-laws and presents received, but because young married women customarily have no political significance in their new families. The continuous demand for dowry is but one of the ways in which the deficient political status is exploited. This deficiency is used to maltreat her in countless other ways too. Therefore, she says, the term 'dowry-deaths' is a misnomer because dowry related harassment occurs as part of a larger mandate to oppress a human with zero-political status. Dowry is hardly ever the single cause of so called dowry deaths. In other words, even if demands for dowry were to be satisfied fully, young women would continue to face torture and harassment in their in-laws homes because of their custom-sanctioned-inferiority that robs them of their basic human rights.According to Nalini Singh, from the earliest days of a marriage the in-laws ruin the life of a bride on the assumption that the young woman has surrendered her total being to them; she bends over backwards to demonstrate that she has no political status, and slips in the bottom of the authority structure; while her parents reassure her that self-effacement is virtuous in woman. If there is much agreement on women's mute compliance with predetermined norms, then why are our daughters dying in marriage? As revealed by Singh's survey, the truth is that young women do not reconcile themselves to the complete absence of political significance in their affinal family. Yet they simulate absolute obedience, because that is what their fraudulent upbringing recommends. This obedience is taken for the real things by those in authority over them. In pursuance of in-law's perception that the bride's parents owe them an unlimited amount of dowry (or Compensation), they, the in-laws, establish a conduit for this flow through the bride. Stripped of a political locus stand, she cannot oppose this demand on grounds of injustice and appears to exercise either one or both of the two options-one, she succumbs, and procures the demanded goods from her parents (after initially deflecting some of the hard edge of the demand by tolerating physical brutality herself), and two, she does not comply, clothing her stand with the unsurrendered fragment of her persona. It is noteworthy, she states, that many women finally adopt the second alternative at great personal risk, and high emotional cost, and offer sustained resistance to demands for dowry.
This resistance proves extremely provocative to authoritarian family members of the husband's family, not so much because of the monetary deprivation, but because of its real potential for destabilizing the power structure which sanctions exploitative behaviour within the family. The young woman's subdued non-cooperation with the demand for extortion of dowry from her parents might not be the solitary issue on which she resists blind authority, but there might be some other issues, which expose her as opinionated, as for instance, the desire to work or study, despite family opposition. All such actions are regarded as signals of disrespect and revolt. When a young woman, who is a political amputee by tradition, resists prestigious traditions such as dowry, she is a logical candidate for retaliation by the in-laws. Dowry death are a manifest example of this retaliation by the flag-bearers of patriarchial authority. In some cases, the retaliatory wrath of the in-laws expresses itself in murders of the young women by burning with kerosene (most frequent in urban areas) or drowning (common in rural areas). Other methods employed to murder include poisoning and physical battery.
Home Index
Dowry is as old as we find the written traces of it in the oldest records, such as the Code of Hammurabi (the best preserved ancient law code was created in ca. 1760 BC in ancient Babylon. It was enacted by the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi) as a pre-existing custom, prescribing only regulations for how it was to be handled and also included regulations for a bride price. If a woman died without sons, her husband had to refund the dowry but could deduct the value of the bride price; the dowry would normally have been the larger of the sums. It marks the first record of long-lasting customs, such as the wife being entitled to her dowry at her husband's death as part of her dower, her dowry being inheritable only by her own children, not by her husband's children by other women, and a woman not being entitled to a (subsequent) inheritance if her father had provided her dowry in marriage.
Govt. Policies Against Dowry
THE DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT, 1961(Act No.28 of 1961)[2Oth May. 1961]Be it enacted by Parliament in the Twelfth Year of the Republic of India as follows:1. SHORT TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT(l) This Act maybe called the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.2. DEFINITION OF "DOWRY"ln this Act, "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 parents 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 said parties but does not include dower or mahr in the case of persons to whom the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) applies.EXPLANATION I OmittedEXPLANATION II - The expression "valuable security" has the same meaning as in Sec. 30 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).3. PENALTY FOR GIVING OR TAKING DOWRYIf 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 fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees or the amount of the value of such dowry, whichever is more:Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be recorded in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than five years.Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to or, in relation to,-(a) presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bride (without any demand having been made in that behalf):Provided that such presents are entered in a list maintained in accordance with rule made under this Act;(b) presents which are given at the time of marriage to the bridegroom (without any demand having been made in that behalf):Provided that such presents are entered in a list maintained in accordance with the rules made under this Act:Provided further that where such presents are made by or on behalf of the bride or any person related to the bride, such presents are of a customary nature and the value thereof is not excessive having regard to the financial status of the person by whom, or on whose behalf, such presents are given.4. PENALTY FOR DEMANDING DOWRYIf 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:Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months.4-A. BAN ON ADVERTISEMENTIf any person ..(a) offers, through any advertisement in any newspaper, periodical, journal or through any other media, any share in his property or if any money or both as a share in any business or other interest as consideration for the marriage of his son or daughter or any other relative.(b) prints or publishes or circulates any advertisement referred to Cl. (a), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to five years, or with fine which may extend to fifteen thousand rupees:Provided that the Court may, for adequate and special reasons to be recorded in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months.5. AGREEMENT FOR GIVING OR TAKING DOWRY TO BE VOIDAny agreement for the giving or taking of dowry shall be void.6. DOWRY TO BE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WIFE OR HER HEIRS(1) Where any dowry is received by any person other than the woman in connection with whose marriage it is given, that person shall transfer it to the woman-(a) if the dowry was received before marriage, within three months after the date of marriage; or(b) if the dowry was received at the time of or after the marriage within three months after the date of its receipt; or(c) if the dowry was received when the woman was a minor, within three months after she has attained the age of eighteen years.and pending such transfer, shall hold it in trust for the benefit of the woman.(2) If any person fails to transfer any property as required by sub-section (1) within the time limit specified therefor or as required by sub-section (3), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to two years or with fine which shall not be less than five thousand rupees, but which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.(3) Where the woman entitled to any property under sub-section (1) dies before receiving it, the heirs of the woman shall be entitled to claim it from the person holding it for the time being:Provided that where such woman dies within seven years of her marriage, otherwise than due to natural causes, such property shall,-(a) if she has no children, be transferred to her parents, or(b) if she had children, be transferred to such children and pending such transfer, be held in trust for such children.(3-A) Where a person convicted under sub-section (2) for failure to transfer any property as required by sub-section (1) tor sub-section (3)] has not, before his conviction under that sub-section, transferred such property to the woman entitled thereto or, as the case may be, her heirs, parents or children, the Court shall, in addition to awarding punishment under that sub-section, direct, by order in writing, that such person shall transfer the property to such woman or, as the case may be, her heirs, parents or children within such period as may be specified in the order, andif such person fails to comply with the direction within the period so specified, an amount equal to the value of the property may be recovered from him as if it were a fine imposed by such Court and paid to such woman or, as the case may be, her heirs, parents or children.(4) Nothing contained in this section shall affect provisions of Sec. 3 or Sec. 4.7. COGNIZANCE OF OFFENCENotwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974),-(a) no Court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence under this Act;(b) no Court shall take cognizance of an offence under this Act except upon-(i) its own knowledge or a police report of the facts which constitute such offence, or(ii) a complaint by the person aggrieved by offence or a parent or other relative of such person, or by any recognized welfare institution or organisation;(c) it shall be lawful for a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class to pass any sentence authorised by this Act on any person convicted of any offence under this Act.EXPLANATION.- For the purposes of this sub-section, "recognized welfare institution or organisation" means a social welfare institution or organisation recognized in this behalf by the Central or State Government.(2) Nothing in Chapter XXXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall apply to any offence punishable under this Act.(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, a statement made by the person aggrieved by the offence shall not subject such person to a prosecution under this Act.8. OFFENCES TO BE COGNIZABLE FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES AND TO BE NON-BAILABLE AND NON-COMPOUNDABLE(l ) The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall apply to offences under this Act as if they were cognizable offences(a) for the purposes of investigation of such offences, and(b) for the purpose of matters other than-(i) matters referred to in Sec. 42 of that Code, and(ii) the arrest of a person without a warrant or without an order of a Magistrate.(2) Every offence under this Act shall be non-bailable and non-compoundable.8-A. BURDEN OF PROOF IN CERTAIN CASESWhere any person is prosecuted for taking or abetting the taking of any dowry under Sec. 4, or the demanding of dowry under Sec. 4, the burden of proving that he has not committed an offence under those sections shall be on him.8-B. DOWRY PROHIBITION OFFICERS(1) The State Government may appoint as many Dowry Prohibition Officers as it thinks fit and specify the areas in respect of which they shall exercise their jurisdiction and powers under this Act.(2) Every Dowry Prohibition Officer shall exercise and perform the following powers and functions, namely: -(a) to see that the provisions of this Act are complied with;(b) to prevent, as far as possible, the taking or abetting the taking of, or the demanding of, dowry;(c) to collect such evidence as may be necessary for the prosecution of persons committing offence under the Act; and(d) to perform such additional functions as may be assigned to him by the State Government, or as may be specified in the rules made under this Act.(3) The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette confer such powers of a police officer as may be specified in the notification, on the Dowry Prohibition Officer who shall exercise such powers subject to such limitation and conditions as may be specified by rules made under this Act.(4) The State Government may, for the purpose of advising and assisting the Dowry Prohibition Officer in the efficient performance of their functions under this Act, appoint an advisory board consisting of not more than five social welfare workers (out of whom at least two shall be women) from the area in respect of which such Dowry Prohibition Officer exercises jurisdiction under-sub-section (1)9. POWER TO MAKE RULES(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for-(a) the form and manner in which, and the persons by whom, any list of presents referred to in sub-section (2) of Sec. 3 shall be maintained and all other matters connected therewith; and(b) the better co-ordination of policy and action with respect to the administration of this Act.(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before each House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect as the case may be, so, however. that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.10. POWER OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE RULES(1) The State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:(a) the additional functions to be performed by the Dowry Prohibition Officers under sub-section (2) of Sec. 8-B;(b) limitations and conditions subject to which a Dowry Prohibition Officer may exercise his functions under sub- section (3) of Sec. 8-B.(3) Every rule made by the State Government under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before the State Legislature.THE DOWRY PROHIBITION (MAINTENANCE OF LISTS OF PRESENTS TO THE BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM) RULES, 1985G.S.R. 664(E), DATED 19TH AUGUST, 1985.- In exercise of the powers conferred by Sec. 9 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961(28 of 1961), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:1. SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT(1) These rules may be called the Dowry Prohibition (Maintenance of Lists of Presents to the Bride and Bridegroom) Rules, 1985.(2) They shall come into force on the 2nd day of October, 1985, being the date appointed for the coming into force of the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1984 (63 of 1984).2. RULES IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHICH LISTS OF PRESENTS ARE TO BE MAINTAINED(1) The lists of presents which are given at the time of the marriage to the bride shall be maintained by the bride.(2) The list of presents which are given at the time of the marriage to the bridegroom shall be maintained by the bridegroom.(3) Every list of presents referred to in sub-rule (1) or sub- rule (2),-(a) shall be prepared at the time of the marriage or as soon as possible after the marriage;(b) shall be in writing;(c) shall contain,-(i) a brief description of each present;(ii) the approximate value of the present;(iii) the name of the person who has given the present; and(iv) where the person giving the present is related to the bride or bridegroom, a description of such relationship;(d) shall be signed by both the bride and the bridegroom.EXPLANATION 1.-where the bride is unable to sign, she may affix her thumb-impression in lieu of her signature after having the list read out to her and obtaining the signature on the list, of the person who has so read out the particulars contained in the list.EXPLANATION 2.-where the bridegroom is unable to sign, he may affix his thumb-impression in lieu of his signature after having the list read out to him and obtaining the signature on the list to the person who has so read out the particulars contained in the list.(4) The bride or the bridegroom may, if she or he so desires, obtain on either or both of the lists referred to in sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) the signature or signatures of any relations of the bride or the bridegroom or of any other person or persons present at the time of the marriage.
What is Marriage?
In a Hindu marriage, both husband and wife are two parts of one, complementing each other and becoming one in their spiritual journey. The most sacred part of the cermony involves circumbulating the sacred fire in seven steps to a Vedic mantra where the groom addresses his wife thus"Dear Wife! By taking these seven steps, you have become my dearest friend. I pledge my unfailing loyalty to you. Let us stay together for the rest of our lives. Let us not separate from each other ever. Let us be of one mind in carrying out our responsibilities as householders (grihasthas). Let us love and cherish each other and enjoy nourishing food and good health. Let us discharge our prescribed Vedic duties to our elders, ancestors, rishis, creatures, and gods. Let our aspirations be united. I will be the Saaman and may you be the Rk (Saaman here refers to the music and Rk refers to the Vedic text that is being cast into music). Let me be the upper world and let you be the Bhumi or Mother Earth. I will be the Sukla or life force and may you be the bearer of that Sukla. Let me be the mind and let you be the speech. May you follow me to conceive children and gain worldly as well as spiritual wealth. May all auspiciousness come your way." The Vedas prescribe, as do most ancient cultures, that a dowry be given by the bride's family to the groom. The Rig Veda states that cows and gifts given by the father of the bride to the daughter accompanied the bride's procession [Rg Ved. X.85].In the Manu Smriti, on the other hand, 8 types of marriage are specified; two involve bedecking the bride with costly garments and ornaments before giving her away, two involve the groom's family giving a gift to the bride's and the other four do not involve an exchange of gifts.The Manusmriti enjoins ' Let mutual fidelity continue until death,' this may be considered as the summary of the highest law for husband and wife. [Manu IX 101].The Manu Smriti prescribed that the best partner for a man was one-third his age. "A man, aged thirty years, shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him, or a man of twenty-four a girl of eight years of age; if (the performance of) his duties would otherwise be impeded, he must marry sooner." [Manu IX.94] The girl would live with her husband after she reached puberty and consummation of the marriage would take place then.
What you can do against Dowry threats
Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code covers dowry-related harassment. As with other provisions of criminal law, a woman can use the threat of going to court to deter this kind of harassment. The Indian Penal Code also addresses dowry deaths in section 304-B. If a woman dies of "unnatural causes" within seven years of marriage and has been harassed for dowry before her death, the Courts will assume that it is a case of dowry death. The husband or in-laws will then have to prove that their harassment was not the cause of her death. A dowry death is punishable by imprisonment of at least seven years. When filing an FIR ( First Hand Report), in a case where a woman is suspected to have been murdered after a history of torture due to dowry demands, the complaint should be filed under section 304-B rather than under section 306, which deals with abetment to suicide. Section 306 should be invoked when a woman commits suicide because of dowry-related harassment.How can you participate in this campaign against dowry ..1. Sign the pledge to demonstrate solidarity2. Make a donation to an organization fighting dowry, on the occasion of your marriage or a marriage in the family or your wedding anniversary, as a gesture of support. 3. If you are a creative person - Design banners, posters and flyers.4. If you belong to some social forum, give our campaign a voice and a platform to reach out to more people 5. If you are a journalist / writer, write articles about this campaign. 6. If you belong to social organizations in India / US / any other country and are already working on dowry, help us join hands with your efforts. 7. If you are an artiste / dancer / singer / instrumentalist, please use art as a medium to voice your solidarity. 8. Share your personal stories to inspire many more.
Anti Dowry Movement
Why Women need Anti Dowry MovementThe most severe in “bride burning”, the burning of women whose dowries were not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws.Most of these incidents are reported as accidental burns in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide.Official records of these incidents are low because they are often reported as accidents or suicides by the family.In Delhi, a woman is burned to death almost every twelve hours.The number of dowry murders is increasing.In 1988, 2,209 women were killed in dowry related incidents and in 1990, 4,835 were killed.Government figures there were a total of 5,377 dowry deaths in 1993, an increase of 12% from 1992.Despite the existence of rigorous laws to prevent dowry-deaths under a 1986 amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), convictions are rare, and judges(usually men)are often uninterested and susceptible to bribery.To get rid of it,women need anti dowry movement.Anti Dowry Movements in IndiaBegining of the anti-dowry movement was in the 1970s and 1980s.The movement appeared to lose steam in the 1990s as women’s organisations dealt with a spate of other issues,but problems related to dowry continued to multiply.The women's movement in India is a rich and vibrant movement which has taken different forms in different parts of the country.The Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act (1984, 1986) makes the giving and taking of dowry "as a condition of marriage" punishable by law, while excluding "voluntary gifts" -a combination of provisions which makes for toothless sanctions.There are various movements which done by Indian Women.Some are as following1. AIDWA: It is Tripura state committee of "All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)" organised a state level convention on dowry system and atrocities against women at Rabindra Bhavan, Agartala, on August 7.At first the AIDWA state secretary Rama Das presented the resolution and future programme of the association before the house. She expressed deep concern on the rise in atrocities on woman in the recent time despite a vigorous campaign by AIDWA committees and active role of the government.State Women’s Commission chairperson Champa Dasgupta commended the AIDWA for playing a great role in the state.The AIDWA will hold a series of district and local level conventions against the dowry system, killing of brides and torture against women.2.AIWC: The All India Women's Congress (AIWC) was the first all India women's organisation.Its charter explicitly identified the organisation with the mainstream struggle for national freedom. Both bourgeois liberals and the Left joined together in the AIWC, and its formation coincided with Mahatma Gandhi's calls in the 1920s to popularise the freedom movement, to sunder the struggle from its upper caste, elite moorings.Thus the AIWC and those associated with it not only saw their role as fighting for the status and rights of women but unambiguously located this task within the agenda of the freedom struggle as a whole. This was the real strength that the women's movement acquired at its birth.It has remained a cherished tradition within the movement, a tradition that still lives and informs the movement through its ups and downs.3.NARS: This movement("Nari Atma Raksha Samity i. e. NARS") rapidly grew and developed structured links with the organised Left. Members of NARS supported and participated in the historic Tebhaga struggle. Elsewhere in the country, women with Left political leanings were involved in working class and revolutionary peasant struggles, such as the struggle in Telengana. Telengana proved a very influential learning experience for the Left, illustrating how women could fight.4.Anti-Arrack: Anti-arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh grew out the inspiration gained by women in adult literacy classes. In 1992, women of Dubagunta village in Nellore, one of the poor drought prone districts of Southern Andhra Pradesh, organised and agitated to force the closure of the arrack (liquor) shop in the village. Newspapers published this story, and women all over the state marched to arrack shops and sought to stop the auction of contracts to sell arrack.The press, in particular, Eenadu, the largest circulating Telugu daily, covered the anti-arrack movement that was spearheaded by the women for a year (Gopalakrishnaiah, 1997).But the prohibition imposed by the State in 1993 on arrack was withdrawn in 1994 as the it wanted additional revenue generated by liquor sales.The experience, however, gave the women’s groups in Andhra Pradesh new confidence and power to check the alcohol abuse by men in their families, and to prevent domestic violence by alcoholic husbands. Contribution of great women in anti dowry movements1.Sarojini Naidu: The first to join was Sarojini Naidu, who went on to become the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in 1925.Her presence was a signal for hundreds of other women to join, and eventually the salt protest was made successful by the many women who not only made salt, but also sat openly in marketplaces selling, and indeed, buying it.Sarojini Naidu's spirit lives on in thousands of Indian women today.2.Rojammas: A poor woman from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, attended a literacy class.It talked about a poor woman, struggling to make ends meet, who was regularly beaten by her husband. Whatever he earned, he spent on liquor, and then, drunk and violent, he attacked her because she had no food to give him.Rojamma collected her friends together, and they began to picket liquor shops. The campaign spread like wildfire. In village after village, women got together, they talked, they went on strike, they beat up liquor shop owners, they refused to allow their husbands to squander money on liquor.The sale of liquor was banned in Andhra Pradesh, reluctantly, by the government for liquor brings in huge amounts of money. As a result, savings went up, violence levels dropped, and the lives of poor women began to improve.3.Indira Gandhi: Indira Gandhi's government declared a State of Emergency in 1975, putting a stop to all democratic political activity. Activists, both young and old, women and men, were forced to go underground or to stop all political work. It was only when the Emergency was lifted, some 18 months later, that overground political activity resumed. It was around this time that many of the contemporary women's groups began to get formed, with their members often being women with a history of involvement in other political movements.
The hundreds of thousands of Rojammas and Sarojini Naidus who are to be found all over India form part of one of the most dynamic and vibrant of political movements in India today, the women's movement.
Why do dowry deaths occur?
Why do dowry deaths occur? This was the central point of concern of a sociological study by Nalini Singh based on a survey of the marriages of 38 young women, aged 17-24 years, in each of which the wife died an unnatural death, reportedly due to harassment over dowry. She suggested that it is primarily the societal perception of woman being less productive than man that define woman's place in society. This manifests in what she calls "Zero-political Status", and denial of basic civil rights to them. She observes that dowry is a clear affirmation of the fact that one's gender determines one's worth or significance. Since worth is distributed unequally amongst the sexes at birth, worth-deficiency amongst females can be offset by material additives that is dowry. The roots of this worth deficiency of women are so deep-rooted that even the brides who earn more than their husbands are made to feel an obligation to supply dowry goods and services along after their marriage just as are the women who earn nothing.
The dowry deaths, therefore, she observes, do not occur because there is a mismatch between gifts demanded by in-laws and presents received, but because young married women customarily have no political significance in their new families. The continuous demand for dowry is but one of the ways in which the deficient political status is exploited. This deficiency is used to maltreat her in countless other ways too. Therefore, she says, the term 'dowry-deaths' is a misnomer because dowry related harassment occurs as part of a larger mandate to oppress a human with zero-political status. Dowry is hardly ever the single cause of so called dowry deaths. In other words, even if demands for dowry were to be satisfied fully, young women would continue to face torture and harassment in their in-laws homes because of their custom-sanctioned-inferiority that robs them of their basic human rights.According to Nalini Singh, from the earliest days of a marriage the in-laws ruin the life of a bride on the assumption that the young woman has surrendered her total being to them; she bends over backwards to demonstrate that she has no political status, and slips in the bottom of the authority structure; while her parents reassure her that self-effacement is virtuous in woman. If there is much agreement on women's mute compliance with predetermined norms, then why are our daughters dying in marriage? As revealed by Singh's survey, the truth is that young women do not reconcile themselves to the complete absence of political significance in their affinal family. Yet they simulate absolute obedience, because that is what their fraudulent upbringing recommends. This obedience is taken for the real things by those in authority over them. In pursuance of in-law's perception that the bride's parents owe them an unlimited amount of dowry (or Compensation), they, the in-laws, establish a conduit for this flow through the bride. Stripped of a political locus stand, she cannot oppose this demand on grounds of injustice and appears to exercise either one or both of the two options-one, she succumbs, and procures the demanded goods from her parents (after initially deflecting some of the hard edge of the demand by tolerating physical brutality herself), and two, she does not comply, clothing her stand with the unsurrendered fragment of her persona. It is noteworthy, she states, that many women finally adopt the second alternative at great personal risk, and high emotional cost, and offer sustained resistance to demands for dowry.
This resistance proves extremely provocative to authoritarian family members of the husband's family, not so much because of the monetary deprivation, but because of its real potential for destabilizing the power structure which sanctions exploitative behaviour within the family. The young woman's subdued non-cooperation with the demand for extortion of dowry from her parents might not be the solitary issue on which she resists blind authority, but there might be some other issues, which expose her as opinionated, as for instance, the desire to work or study, despite family opposition. All such actions are regarded as signals of disrespect and revolt. When a young woman, who is a political amputee by tradition, resists prestigious traditions such as dowry, she is a logical candidate for retaliation by the in-laws. Dowry death are a manifest example of this retaliation by the flag-bearers of patriarchial authority. In some cases, the retaliatory wrath of the in-laws expresses itself in murders of the young women by burning with kerosene (most frequent in urban areas) or drowning (common in rural areas). Other methods employed to murder include poisoning and physical battery.
Home Index
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The practice of giving a "dowry" or a gift to a woman at marriage is said to have its origins in the system of "streedhan" (women's share of parental wealth given to her at the time of her marriage).
As a woman had no right to inherit a share of the ancestral property streedhan was seen as a way by which the family ensured that she had access to some of its wealth. There is no clear proof as to when this practice was first started in India.
What began as gifts of land to a woman as her inheritance in an essentially agricultural economy today has degenerated into gifts of gold, clothes, consumer durables and large sums of cash, which has sometimes entailed the impoverishment and heavy indebtedness of poor families. The dowry is often used by the receiving families for business purposes, family member's education, or the dowry to be given for the husband's sister. The transaction of dowry often does not end with the actual wedding ceremony as the family is expected to continue to give gifts.
In the course of time dowry has become a widespread evil and it has now assumed menacing proportions. Surprisingly it has spread to other communities, which were traditionally non-dowry taking communities. With the increasing greed for the easy inflow of money on account of a bride the chilling stories of bride burning started coming to light.
With a view to eradicate the rampant social evil of dowry from the Indian society, Parliament in 1961 passed the Dowry Prohibition Act which applies not merely to Hindus but all people, Muslims, Christians, Parsees and Jews. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
As a woman had no right to inherit a share of the ancestral property streedhan was seen as a way by which the family ensured that she had access to some of its wealth. There is no clear proof as to when this practice was first started in India.
What began as gifts of land to a woman as her inheritance in an essentially agricultural economy today has degenerated into gifts of gold, clothes, consumer durables and large sums of cash, which has sometimes entailed the impoverishment and heavy indebtedness of poor families. The dowry is often used by the receiving families for business purposes, family member's education, or the dowry to be given for the husband's sister. The transaction of dowry often does not end with the actual wedding ceremony as the family is expected to continue to give gifts.
In the course of time dowry has become a widespread evil and it has now assumed menacing proportions. Surprisingly it has spread to other communities, which were traditionally non-dowry taking communities. With the increasing greed for the easy inflow of money on account of a bride the chilling stories of bride burning started coming to light.
With a view to eradicate the rampant social evil of dowry from the Indian society, Parliament in 1961 passed the Dowry Prohibition Act which applies not merely to Hindus but all people, Muslims, Christians, Parsees and Jews. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
WHAT CONSTITUTES DOWRY?
Dowry is defined as any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly:
By one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage or ;
By parents of either party to a marriage or ;
By any other person to either party to the marriage.
BAN ON ADVERTISEMENT
Any advertisement in any newspaper, periodical, journal or through any other media offering dowry as consideration for marriage is punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than 6 months and it may extend upto 5 years or with fine upto RS. 15,000 (Fifteen thousand).
DOWRY AGREEMENT - NOT VALID
An agreement for giving and taking of dowry shall be void
EXCEPTIONS
The dower or Mahr given during marriage under the Shariat (Muslim Personal) Law.
Gifts that are given to the bride or the bridegroom at the time of the marriage (without any demand being made) will not amount to dowry, if such presents are entered in a list in the following manner :
The bride shall maintain the list of presents given to the bride
The bridegroom shall maintain the list of presents given to the bridegroom
The lists shall be prepared at the time of marriage and shall be in writing
The list shall contain a brief description of each present, approximate value, the name of the person who presented it, relationship of the presenter to the bride or the groom
The list shall be signed (or thumb impression) by both the bride and the groom
Where dowry already given - Where any dowry is received by any person other than the woman in connection with whose marriage it is given that person shall transfer it in the name of the women
if it was received before marriage within three months after the date of marriage
if it was received at the time of marriage or after the marriage within three months after the date of it's receipt
if the dowry was received when the woman was a minor within 3 months after she has attained the age of 18 years.
Pending such transfer that person shall hold the dowry in trust for the benefit of the woman. In the event of death of the woman dowry shall be transferred to her children or her parents.
If any person fails to transfer any property within the time limit specified, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than 6 months, but which may extend to 2 years or with fine which shall not be less than RS. 15,000 (Fifteen thousand) or with both
Dowry is defined as any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly:
By one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage or ;
By parents of either party to a marriage or ;
By any other person to either party to the marriage.
BAN ON ADVERTISEMENT
Any advertisement in any newspaper, periodical, journal or through any other media offering dowry as consideration for marriage is punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than 6 months and it may extend upto 5 years or with fine upto RS. 15,000 (Fifteen thousand).
DOWRY AGREEMENT - NOT VALID
An agreement for giving and taking of dowry shall be void
EXCEPTIONS
The dower or Mahr given during marriage under the Shariat (Muslim Personal) Law.
Gifts that are given to the bride or the bridegroom at the time of the marriage (without any demand being made) will not amount to dowry, if such presents are entered in a list in the following manner :
The bride shall maintain the list of presents given to the bride
The bridegroom shall maintain the list of presents given to the bridegroom
The lists shall be prepared at the time of marriage and shall be in writing
The list shall contain a brief description of each present, approximate value, the name of the person who presented it, relationship of the presenter to the bride or the groom
The list shall be signed (or thumb impression) by both the bride and the groom
Where dowry already given - Where any dowry is received by any person other than the woman in connection with whose marriage it is given that person shall transfer it in the name of the women
if it was received before marriage within three months after the date of marriage
if it was received at the time of marriage or after the marriage within three months after the date of it's receipt
if the dowry was received when the woman was a minor within 3 months after she has attained the age of 18 years.
Pending such transfer that person shall hold the dowry in trust for the benefit of the woman. In the event of death of the woman dowry shall be transferred to her children or her parents.
If any person fails to transfer any property within the time limit specified, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than 6 months, but which may extend to 2 years or with fine which shall not be less than RS. 15,000 (Fifteen thousand) or with both
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
