Dahej (dowry) means the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.
The dowry has a long history in Europe, South Asia, Africa and other parts of the world. In Homeric times, the usual Greek practice was to give a brideprice, and dowries were also exchanged in the later classical time (5th century BC).
Although it is not clear when the practice began in India, the system of dowry was found widely practiced in Indian society in the early days. In ancient times, dowry was the part of the ritual of Kanyadan, particularly in upper class marriage. Among the eight types of marriages recognized by Smritis, it was only in the Brahma marriage, father gave away his daughter, with such gifts and presents as he could afford, to a man of higher class. It was a gift offered willingly. In the medieval period, the turned into an evil system. Father in order to marry his daughter had to pay hefty wealth demanded by groom's family. Though it was practiced in the aristocratic and royal families; it engulfed the society in alarming way.
In the present times, it is in the most devastating form. Women are harassed, beaten and face every kind of cruelty if she is unable to fulfill the demand of dowry and the harassment goes to such an extent that they are burned to death.
Demanding dowry is prohibited by a law of 1961 but the law is highly misused.
The law allows jailing of any person, named in the written complaint, without any investigation. Of late, several human-right organizations have come forward against the misuse of this law.
However, only the social awareness can give a check to this “Dahej Pratha”, the social evil.
Answered by
Ramcharan
at
5:37 AM on June 22, 2008
