Taking Dowry is still a major evil practice in India that was practiced by the groom’s family in different parts of India. Mostly the backward societies or the rural regions of the country witness most cases related to dowry but the urban areas also witness this type of practice till today. Now, we have Kerala Dowry Prohibition Act 2021, By Government Of Kerala.
In many cases, the bride’s family sell their land or house or valuables to fulfill the dowry needs of the Groom’s family, or in other cases where the Bride’s family was rich enough to satisfy the dowry needs of the Groom’s family didn’t bother about it much and take it as a ritual of a wedding.
But it’s still a crime and not a part of the wedding. Many cases of Bride’s suicide after torture due to less dowry, Blackmails by the Groom’s family for more dowry.
And also in some cases, the bride was beaten and killed because her parents cannot give the demanded dowry have become so much common in India that it’s a serious matter which needs strict laws and punishment.
The state of Kerala has recently introduced a Dowry Prohibition Act that could decrease the cases of Dowry in the state. So let’s have a look at the Dowry Prohibition Act by the Government of Kerala.
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Kerala Dowry Prohibition Act
The WCD department Of the Kerala Government Issued a circular on 16 July 2021. They state that all males working under any government department of Kerala state should submit a declaration within one month of Marriage that they have not taken any kind of Dowry from the Bride’s family or any of her relatives.
Apart from the statement from the Groom(the newly married government employee), the declaration should also get signed by his wife, his father, and his father-in-law for confirmation and proof.
This current act was a modified version of the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961. The state women and child development officer (also the chief dowry Prohibition officer) has asked the state government to maintain and manage all the declarations from the government employees of their respective departments. The declaration should be submitted to private and autonomous institutions too.
The heads of the government departments have also been directed to maintain this data from each male employee.
The district officer will then submit a verified report of the departments that have not furnished the data in their respective departments before April 15 and October 15 every year.
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Dowry Prohibition Day : Kerala Dowry
The Kerala state government has also decided that 26 November should be observed as the dowry prohibition day.
On this day, All the students from different educational institutions across the state will take an oath that they will never give or take Dowry in any form in a general assembly on that day.
After several incidents of dowry reported across the state. The government took this step to reduce the cases of Dowry as this also hampers the image of the government if they won’t take necessary steps to stop this evil practice.
Dowry-related deaths in the state have risen steadily since the last few years and the tortures practiced upon the wife by their greedy husbands in these dowry cases were spine chilling too.
In a recent case of a 31-year-old woman from Kochi, she was being tortured by her in-laws and beaten brutally. Not only this but her father’s ribs were also broken by the family. Only because the girl’s family didn’t give the demanded dowry which was huge. The more shocking thing, in this case, was that the police didn’t even take necessary action for months.
Conclusion
The problem of Dowry is still very much serious in the country. And many states and in total the central laws too are failing to control the spread of this evil practice.
If caught during the right time, the groom and his family will get punishment according to the laws but the fear of the laws was still very much low among such families.
There should be education and proper guidance from the school level about this evil dowry system no matter in what stream the students are continuing their academics. Educating people about the punishments and the illegal practices that families make will bring a change.
Reference
Sushree Sangeeta Behera
coNtent writer