Recently, the news of an innocent young girl’s suicide due to dowry harassment was reported from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur District. Rithanya committed suicide at the young age of 27 after facing dowry harassment by her husband and in-laws. Her husband and in-laws continued to demand heavy dowry even after they were given sufficient movable and immovable wealth in the form of dowry to them! This could have been avoided, if the girl’s parents refused to give such a huge dowry to the bridegroom and his family.

There are many young girls like Rithanya who are reluctant to leave their cruel life partners, and they are leading their life with full of miseries and sorrows in their in-law homes, due to the dowry problem. After seeing the huge dowry wealth, their husbands might be of the opinion that they can lead their life without going for a job. They might try even to send off their new wives to their parents homes, with the intention of grabbing more and more money from their parents, by quoting the reason, “I AM GOING TO START A NEW BUSINESS, HENCE, GO TO YOUR PARENTS HOME, AND GET ME THE REQUIRED MONEY IMMEDIATELY”!

This dowry problem can be solved only if the bride’s parents decide to get their daughters married without giving even a single paisa as dowry to their bridegroom. They can also fetch a good bridegroom without seeing his financial status as many good young men with forward thoughts are available. Hence let us bury the act of giving dowry, and let us save the lives of innocent young girls from dowry harassment problems!

The dowry system in Bharat refers to the things (such as jewelry, cash, movable & immovable assets) that the bride’s family gives to the bridegroom, either before or after the marriage.   This system must be abolished, since it causes heavy financial burden on the bride’s family. In some situations, it leads to violence against women by their husband and their in-laws. 

The payment of dowry has been prohibited under the Dowry Prohibition Act. But even then, most of the bride groom family are demanding huge assets from the bride’s family which includes heavy cash, car and even house property etc. Even after getting the required things from the bride’s family, some bride grooms, may cause physical injury to the bride, and may send them to their parental homes, by quoting some silly reasons. Some girls feel that they don’t want to be a burden for their parents, and hence decide to commit suicide also. This may result in permanent depression in the minds of the bride’s parents, and they would live their life without any peace.

This system prevails for several centuries and lot of social enthusiasts and social reformers fought for the rights of the women, and they tried to abolish the system. Rajaram Mohan Rai abolished the system of SATI, the system of a wife entering into the pyre of her husband, after his death.

Regularly we read in newspapers and magazines about the death of brides due to dowry harassment. The young girls must be brave enough to fight against injustice, and strongly object giving in to the demands of the bridegroom’s family. They must realize that they are all the forms of Mata Durga Devi, and must be bold enough to face any kind of difficult situation in their life. They should be prepared to give even a written complaint about the harassment given by the bridegroom’s family to the police.

They must be the New Generation Girls, as the great Bharati mentioned in his poems. Kavimani Desikavinayakam Pillai in his poem has written the verses “IN ORDER TO BE BORN AS A FEMALE, ONE MUST HAVE DONE GOOD KARMIC DEEDS IN THEIR PREVIOUS BIRTH”. Similar to that, women must not underestimate themselves, and must fight for their rights, and strongly object to the system of Dowry payment.

“OM”

-R. HARISHANKAR