Dowry : A customary crime.

Even after having its origin dated back in the Babylonian era, dowry has still managed to be the hot topic in 2021. The practice of setting a price tag on the daughter has gone unchecked for centuries and now its only an unfortunate news than shocking. Another day, another hashtag.

(Credits : assignmentpoint.com)

    

    But what exactly is Dowry today? Is it a crime or yet another unconstitutional custom? The Dowry Prohibition Act enacted in 1961 has clearly made it illegal to demand or accept dowry in any format. So a presumed answer would be that it is a crime. If so why is dowry system unchecked and still prevalent in India and why is it still on a rise? The recent unfortunate incidents of dowry deaths in India has given out a negative impact to the whole Act itself and people have branded it to be useless. For six decades the act has been in effect and yet the system has never been eradicated in today's India. In fact, what crime has ever become extinct? The Indian Penal Code has been in effect since 1860 yet, murders have never been eradicated. Rapes have never been eradicated. Robbery, theft, cheating, fraud etc. None of them have gone extinct. Does that make the IPC useless as well or does it give out the message that crime will never be extinct?

    Dowry prior to the prohibition act of 1961, was just another unconstitutional custom like the many others being followed in India. Unfortunately it still is. Only when reported can the police reach out into the lives of ordinary people and get a grab of the dowry system which is so subtle today, that it is now being protected by the veil of privacy. The same will be reported to the police only when people treat it to be a crime and not a custom. And only when the crime is being reported, can the system get hold of it and take measures to control the same. Like many other crimes, the percentage of unreported dowry cases skyrocket unlike the ones reported. But again reporting a crime can only control it but never eradicate it and our goal is to eradicate the dowry system. But we have never had an example of a crime that has been completely eradicated from the human ecosystem. Let's be as panglossian as far as a human can be, but at the end of the day we all know deep inside that crime is here to stay. Then how can its eradication be done? Perhaps there's a peculiarity to dowry unlike the other crimes such as murder. 

(sati system)

    Customs can be and have been eradicated. The sati system, which was also a custom, is no more in India. It remains to be a crime in India even today with miniscule incidents which were reported in the early period of 2000s and have now slowly become zero. The sati system is both a crime and a custom much like dowry is today. A crime can be controlled but a custom can be eradicated. Criminals are like weed. You pull one out, another will take its place. But if you eliminate the cause of the crime, there won't be any soil for that weed to grow. To eradicate a custom you need to identify the root cause of the same. It won't be easy to pull out that root in one single try and while you are making an effort to do the same, the spread is still happening. So step one is to control the spread and contain the ground zero. That is done by treating an unconstitutional custom as a crime. That is the job of Acts. The Bengal Sati Regulation of 1829 was the first step to control the spread of sati. A custom won't die in a fortnight. The same was later developed to be the Sati (prevention) Act of 1987 due to the active cases of sati being reported. Eventually with the interference of the people and the governments that came along (also a little thanks to the British), the custom eventually died out. The rare incidents that were reported in parts of India were termed to be due to the insane conditions of the wife and it was no way the dead custom being revived. However, unlike the sati system which was basically homicide in broad daylight, dowry is now a silent custom that is being followed in the privacy of two families becoming "one" and hence, the same is not easily reported. Which is why unlike the dying of sati culture, dowry is taking more time and producing more victims.

    Dowry is both a crime and a custom. On a timeline basis it is a custom first and then a crime but it is now to be treated as a crime first and then an unconstitutional custom. The crime factor helps to put the spread under control (Dowry prohibition act & s.304B of IPC) by penalizing the culprits and making sure to the world that a practice like this is wrong. However, the latter part of eradicating it completely, is up to the people and the people alone. Only after realizing the practice is wrong, not just legally but morally as well, can the steps for the extinction of dowry be taken. The changing narrative needs to pace up and thanks to the Internet, the same is now being seen among the youth. Conducting more talks and creating awareness about the unconstitutional and immoral customs that have been shoved down our throats for centuries, is the only way to eradicate the dowry system. Perhaps the next generation would never even know what dowry system is, the same way many today doesn't even know about sati or that there is a valid prevention act for the same. By treating a custom only as a crime, it will never end, instead control the spread and destroy the cause. A closure to an age old custom must be provided and the same can only be done by understanding the wrongs that lie deep and engraved in it. Such a closure is what is necessary for not just dowry system, but for every other custom that has its wrongs but has been passed on due to its roots being planted deep into the religious backgrounds. It is time to bring that much needed closure to all such customary crimes.

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