DOWRY DEATHS....What should be the punishment ??
By uditpanda
@uditpanda (1023)
India
January 10, 2009 10:08am CST
I live in eastern part of India. In many parts of India including my place has a custom prevailing in rural places that is called the DOWRY tradition. Here the family of the bride has to give a good sum of money along with other accessories to the groom's family before marriage. This thing makes marriage a heavy headache to the parents of a girl as most of the families here are very poor to afford the heavy dowry demand. Even after marriage, the girls are tormented a lot for collection of dowry money. If the demand is unfulfilled,in many a cases either the bride is killed or she adopts the path of suicide,not being able to bear all the torture.
This is very unfortunate a tradition prevalent here....What punishment do you think should be given to the offenders....
Share your views about this issue...
4 people like this
9 responses
@galoforce (263)
•
10 Jan 09
thats deep!
i guess its things like this which really make me think how looky i am to like in the uk, i mean.. i have tasks that get me stressed out i.e. coursework, saving for new things. yet all this goes on in other parts of the world, makes me feel quite selfish to be honest with you.
i'ts hard to just give out a punishment to these, as it's dempt a tradition by most as you say... can i ask you, is this legal in your country?
@uditpanda (1023)
• India
10 Jan 09
its not illegal to give dowry as you can portray it as a gift from the bride side.but of course dowry deaths are considered as murders...gradually the awareness is raising. But still a lot of cases go unreported...or i would say most of the cases...
@uditpanda (1023)
• India
10 Jan 09
The bridal side wish to pay as they think that their daughter would be safe if they respond to the demand of the groom's side. I guess thats an expression of the fear in side.
That is what hurts most...
@galoforce (263)
•
10 Jan 09
yeah, far eastern countries have morales which go deep, like a guy who a friend knew needed an opperation, the doctors could reffer him to someone else, though they saw it as loosing face and they would loose honour by basically admitting that they couldn't treat him. so they left it, though luckliy the guy didn't contact the other hospital personally who knows.
@alex7025 (48)
•
11 Jan 09
I think punishment in not really an option, the mentality of marriage as a business transaction without respect for human beings must be changed, there is no hope of changing things by punishment, I know there are a lot of issues involved, but there must be an half way for sure.Bye
@uditpanda (1023)
• India
11 Jan 09
may be u are right alex. If we punish someone may be he/she won't repeat the mistake. But what about the other people. everybody should receive the message. People should be motivated to root out all these customs by themselves in order to make their life peaceful. Punishment alone won't solve the issue.
Thank you for the response.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
11 Jan 09
I think that the tradition should be abolished. We had a similar tradition in my country. The wife expected to bring new things such as blankets and other household goods with her. The father of the bride was expected to pay for the wedding celebrations. All this has been abolished. The couples strive hard before marriage to have the money to have a decent home and put up a wedding celebration.
(c) ronaldinu 2009 - the more people I meet-the more I love my dog
@SusanShayAvon (1003)
• United States
10 Jan 09
I do not think killing people is right unless they do something like this or hurt a child. I think that what goes around comes around. I believe taht the people who do stuff like this should have the same done to them. I am so sorry that you live in a country that does stuff like this. It definately shows how different where people live is. See here when a bride gets married she is her husbands responsibility. In some cases the brides parents will have a big wedding and they will pay for that. Maybe that is kind of like our DOWRY. I think that this is horible though. If we had that tradition over here there would probably be lots of deaths here because a lot of families here are poor. Some people even get married to people that their parents do not approve of. I think that this is horrible. Are these girls forced to marry even if they know that their family does not have the money for their Dowry? Or do their parents think that they can pay later and then are not able to? God bless you.
@seethenightmare (228)
• India
10 Jan 09
I am from india too. I know about the practice. Its wide spread in all over western asia. I condemn this practice. I think heavy exemplary punishment should be awarded to all the people who practice this. There should be social awareness message from the government to make people know the consequence.It will take time to stop this age old tradition,but efforts should be made from now.
@uditpanda (1023)
• India
10 Jan 09
Many of these incidents happen in corners of the country that goes unnoticed. the legal system doesn't have reach to them. Its important to aware people in every part to stop the practice. It is the basic reason why parents consider their girl child as a burden to them & don't hesitate to kill them from the womb. thank you for responding.
@Frederick42 (2024)
• Canada
11 Jan 09
Marriages are an ugly affair and I feel marriage itself should be banned. But people, especially in Eastern countries seem to be addicted to marriage and so, I say that both those receive as well as those who give the dowry should be jailed. As long as parents of the girl are ready to give the dowry, then the dowry problem might never be solved.
@uditpanda (1023)
• India
11 Jan 09
that is a noble thought to be put down in to words. But can you tell me why u said marriage to be an ugly affair ?
@alcazar (761)
• India
10 Jan 09
Well..First of all the Legalities should be made fast...and the punishment should be like a lesson for other men ...
@PrarieStyle (2486)
• United States
11 Jan 09
What religion is this? They should just stop making dowries mandatory. It sounds like it's just an excuse for some people to get unearned money from others. If anyone should get money when children get married, it should be the bride and groom.
@seethenightmare (228)
• India
11 Jan 09
hello udit panda...
i am really sad for this custom...this should not happen in this century...for me they should pay big for it cos this is not a legal thing they doing...they should be punished for 14 years to jails..or they should be hanged...if we should not punish them,they dont stop....so we have to take a stepp towards this...
happy mylotting...
