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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
. $ase +tudy
1/. 0imitations
11. +uggestions and recommendations
12. ibliogra,hy
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my deepest sense of gratitude to my guide my philosopher
lecturer Prof. Vandana for an immeasurable contribution and
encouragement, which inspires me to prepare this report. The concept of
“Project Report on “Dowry – The Cancer of the Socety! is more
relevant now than it ever has been.
Moreover I am very much thankful to my friends and library book for
further improvement of the report. inally I acknowledge my deepest
appreciation to the !"#MI$%T&'.
"Priyanka Goyal#
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-+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
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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.
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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
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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 ,
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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
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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
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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.
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-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
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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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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 !/%.
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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.
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,=>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
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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.
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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
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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//#
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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• >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.
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• 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
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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
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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
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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.
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!-!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
1*#23/121 12%