Women, traditionally, did not inherit the family’s wealth. Dowry was seen as a way for the family to give women their share. This is often used a justification even today, despite laws like the 1956 Hindu Succession Act, which gave daughters equal rights to their family’s property.
Traditionally, an Indian bride moves in with her husband’s family, a practice that is not uncommon even today. The sons are expected to stay and support their parents while their wives take over domestic responsibilities like cooking and cleaning. The women’s contributions to family duties are not assigned any monetary value. So she is essentially considered a freeloader unless she pays for her lodging and food expenses in dowry.
Now with more women joining the workforce, this justification falls by the wayside too. But like the gender wage gap seen even in countries like the US, for instance, some things are so established in the culture and gender politics that they defy all logic. It is not easy to get rid of them.
India recognized dowry as one of the problems it needed to tackle as a young republic. The Dowry Prevention Act of 1961 and later amendments aimed to outlaw the practice and empower women to report dowry extortions. The law criminalized both giving and receiving dowry, and it recommended minimum imprisonment of five years and a fine equal to the amount of the dowry.
But the law has a rather narrow definition of dowry that excludes any voluntary gifts when no demands were made. This has given rise to a whole new vernacular when it comes to stating dowry demands without explicitly stating them.
Even when the groom’s family does not make demands, the bride’s family pays a dowry because it is a matter of pride and a symbol of social status.
Another sinister reason for this custom is because dowries are no longer legally and socially acceptable, this criterion allows the families to differentiate between the prospective brides’ based on their father’s income. In some Indian communities, like the Marwari community, two families being economically similar is considered one of the more important criteria for marriage.
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Instead of outright refusing dowry, often people tell the bride’s parents, “You can give your daughter whatever you want.” And just like that, the burden of defining a “respectable” amount is shifted to the bride’s parents. And legally it would no longer be dowry.
