This blog is inscribed by Kosha Doshi
Introduction
Dowry has always been referred to either in plot or novel, but in the past, it did not have dominant-negative connotations as a social evil as it has in the present time. Dowry practice basically aimed to help new couples start a comfortable life. The dowry scheme, offering cash and affection from the bride's family to the groom's family at the time of marriage, has been an age-old tradition in India and other Asian societies. One of the major reasons for dowry problem in India is patriarchy, which in turn forces a woman’s family to pay for her dowry. In a patriarchal society, women have little to no role in the market economy and are dependent on their husbands. Today, the tradition of dowry has become widespread across caste and class groups in India due to a changing economy.[1]
Dowry Deaths
Since the marriage arrangement is concluded by paying the dowry, there is no guarantee for the safety and well-being of the bride after marriage. There are several examples in the mainstream media of the groom or his family making another offer for dowry after marriage. It is typically due to lower-value dowries being offered at the time of marriage than it was decided or may be due to the impact of patriarchal forces demanding more dowries from the bride's family.[2]
Women whose families have paid less or fewer dowries, those whose in-laws have shown disappointment with their dowries, and those who have been asked for dowry after marriage have consistently been found to be more likely to report domestic violence against them. The issue is not limited to the number of deaths. The extent of morbidity in terms of declining physical and mental health due to dowry-related disputes is immense. Conflicts at the family level and related abuses have a major role to play in deciding the many social and health problems of both women and their children. Issues of feticide, high infant mortality, maternal mortality, malnutrition of women and children should also be read synchronously.[3] Despite the enormous impact of dowries on women's health, there is little information available in public health literature. In this context, the present article explores the pattern of mortality in the form of dowry deaths and dowry-related suicides in India.
Violence toward women is also studied from an ecological point of view so as to consider the risk factors. The ecological paradigm conceptualizes dowry-related deaths and other abuse against women as multifaceted phenomena. Many of the attributes of partners and families affect the probability of a woman being abused. Family-level stressors such as marital unemployment and deprivation often raise the risk of a woman being abused. The failure of a husband and the lack of resources to meet the needs of a family can cause stress and eventually lead to frustration. Violence towards women is a potential reaction to that anger. There is a risk of increased alcohol consumption among these men, and the use of alcohol by men is positively correlated with violence against women.[4]
Furthermore, the dynamics of power in the family and empowerment of women have an impact on the status of women and the possibility of victimization. This probability is lower among women participating in the decision-making of the family. In the same way, women's involvement at income generation activities (such as microfinance schemes) allows them to access awareness and information and to obtain the power to take part in decision-making.[5] Communities have intrinsic characteristics to shield people from abuse and, conversely, to make people vulnerable to victimization in various ways. Some community-level characteristics reflect the lower status of women in the community and the lower sex ratio is one of the reasons of violence. Similarly, the level of crimes and, in particular, those against women reflect the degree of honesty of the society and the extent to which the protection of women is guaranteed by the government. Women also bear the brunt of violence in the community.
Statistics
The study found that female literacy has a significant link to dowry deaths. Out of the selected 15 states, the percentage of female literacy rates in Bihar (37 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (44 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (45 per cent) and Orissa (52 per cent) is very small, with more dowry deaths recorded. Significant associations with women's media representation and dowry death are established in the univariate study (P = 0.004). When there are higher proportions of women without media exposure, the incidence of dowry deaths is higher. In Bihar, more than 58% of women have no daily access to any kind of media and the total number of dowry deaths there was 1172 in the year 2007.[6]
Legal Framework
The first national law on dowry was passed as the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The Act set out a variety of preventive and corrective measures, however, as may have been predicted, the aims have not been achieved. The failure is attributed not solely to a few loopholes in the statute, but also to the government's compliance and to the fact that the tradition of dowry is too deeply ingrained in all sections of the society.
The relevant purpose of criminal law is not only limited to dowry issues, but also to dowry-related violence within the framework of criminal law. The failure of the Dowry Act and the rise in the rate of dowry death led to a Judicial reform in 1983 and 1986 with the addition of Sections 304-B and 498-A. In short, we can assume that there are four cases in which a married woman is exposed to violence and abuse leading to the committing of an offence.[7] First, Dowry death-Section 304 B, IPC, “The crime referred to in Section 304-B describes "Dowry Death" as the death caused to a woman by burns or bodily injury or, in unnatural circumstances, within seven years of her marriage, where it is shown that she has been abused or subjected to cruelty by the husband or his family in connection with the dowry, to life imprisonment for a period of seven years. The seven-year period will be considered a cut-off date for the reason that seven steps taken by the bride and groom of the holy nuptial fire for the completion of the marriage were taken as one year.”
Sections 174 and 176 deal with inquiries and reports involving the causes of accidental police and magistrate deaths. The 1983 amendment made it compulsory for the police to send the body for a post-mortem examination if the death of a woman occurred within seven years of marriage in a case of suicide or under some questionable circumstances. It also empowers the executive magistrate to investigate the death of a woman under similar circumstances.[8]
A new rule, section 113 B, on the presumption of proof in the event of a dowry death has been established, according to which the court must conclude that a dowry death has been caused by a person who has been shown to have subjected a woman to cruelty or abuse shortly before her death.[9]
Conclusion
Dowry Death is a social curse and is one of the critical problems of the Indian society. One of the organized strategy used by women's welfare groups, the military, civil servants and the judiciary is by the use of dissuasive penalties for dowry deaths. It can be noted that the Government of India, along with the Indian judiciary, has introduced cooperative and compassionate legislation to safeguard the life rights and dignity of women and has extensively worked to provide more redress to victims of abuse or violence by their husbands and relatives. In order to decrease the incidence of dowry deaths, abuse or brutality against women, more female police workers would be required so that they could be made available in situations involving unexplained deaths of women or complaints by them.[10]
[1] Gopalan Retheesh Babu, Bontha Veerraju Babu, Dowry deaths: a neglected public health issue in India, International Health, Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 35–43. [2]Banerjee, Priya R. "Dowry in 21st-Century India: The Sociocultural Face of Exploitation." Trauma, Violence & Abuse 15, no. 1 (2014): 34-40 [3] Simister, J. and P. S. Mehta (2010) “Gender-Based Violence in India: Long-Term Trends”, Journal of Interpersonal Violence 25(9) 1594– 1611. [4] Self, S. and R. Grabowski (2009) “Modernization, inter-caste marriage, and dowry: An analytical perspective” Journal of Asian Economics, vol. 20, 69–76. [5] Rao, V. (1993b) “Dowry `Inflation' in Rural India: A Statistical Investigation” Population Studies, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Jul., 1993), pp. 283- 293. [6] Mari Bhat, P. N. and S. S. Halli (1999) “Demography of bride price and dowry: Causes and consequences of the Indian marriage squeeze”, Population Studies, 53, 129-148. [8] Babu G, Retheesh & Babu, Bontha. (2011). Dowry deaths: A neglected public health issue in India. International health. 3. 35-43. 10.1016/j.inhe.2010.12.002. [9] Undurti, Vindhya. (2016). Dowry Deaths. 10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss612. [10] Belur, J., Tilley, N., Daruwalla, N., Kumar, M., Tiwari, V., & Osrin, D. (2014). The social construction of 'dowry deaths'. Social science & medicine (1982), 119, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.07.044
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