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Introduction
Today, Indian society is surrounded with many problems such as
unemployment, illiteracy, population growth, terrorism, etc. Among
these problems, a problem which is deep rooted in Indian society
is the problem of dowry system. It has become the every day news
item, no day passes away when we don't hear news relating to dowry
death or dowry harassment. The irony lies in the fact that women
in India are worshipped in the form of shakti, she is burned and
harassed by her in-laws every day in one part of the nation or the
other. Dowry, in ordinary sense, refers to money, gifts, goods or
estate that wife brings to her husband in marriage.
The dowry has a long history in Europe, South Asia, Africa and
other parts of the world. The system of dowry is deep rooted in
the Indian society since the early days of the history. This
system prevailed in ancient Indian society, in ancient period
dowry was the part of the ritual of kanyadan which was very
different from modern- dowry. Among the eight types of marriages
recognized by smritis, it was only in the Brahma marriage that
father gave away his daughter, with such gifts and presents as he
could afford, to a man of superior character .In the medieval
period, the dowry, which was earlier regarded as dakshina (gift
offered willingly), became an evil, father in order to marry her
daughter had to offer money demanded by groom's family. In
medieval times, the dowry system had engulfed the society at
alarming rate, though it was practiced in the aristocratic and
royal families.
The extra ordinary pride which rich people took in their ancestry
was mainly responsible for this development. The youth of the
bluest blood were preferred as sons-in-law by a large member of
peoples, as a consequence of which their value increased in the
market . The evil, which targeted the aristocratic and royal
families in the ancient and the medieval period, in the British
and modern period it engulfed the entire society. In the present
era, it is in the most disastrous 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.
The most glaring example is of a lady Pooja Chauhan, who was so
harassed by her-in laws because of dowry, which compelled her to
parade in semi nude condition on the road of Rajkot to seek the
justice. While greed may be the apparent causes for dowry demands
some more suitable and unconscious motivations could also
motivates this evil system such as:
1. Aspiration to marry in the High and Rich family.
2. Pressure of the caste system.
3. Social Custom
4. Marriage system.
5. False notion of social status and
6. Vicious Circle.
Anti- Dowry Laws:
The attempt to eradicate the evil system of dowry through the
mechanism of the law dates as far back the Sindh Leti Deti Act of
1939. After independence of India only two states, namely, Bihar
and Andhra Pradesh enacted legislation restraining the dowry
system. But as the incidence of dowry ascended at high rate, need
for the central legislation became essential and as a result, the
first national anti-dowry legislation popularly known as the Dowry
Prohibition Act was passed in 1961, and this Act applies to all
the communities in India. However, the Act proved quite
ineffective, which demanded changes in this toothless piece of
legislation. With a view to remedy the inherent weakness of the
Dowry Prohibition Act, this Act was amended in the year 1984 and
again in the year 1986 to make the provisions of the Act more
stringent and stricter than before and also to make its
implementation effective. Law Commission 91st report 1983,
recommended certain several provisions in IPC, Cr. PC and Indian
Evidence Act to combat this social evil.
In IPC section 498-A was added which made cruelty by the husband
or his relatives punishable with imprisonment up to three years
and sections 304-B was added to the IPC by Criminal Law Amendment
Act, passed in 1986 which provides that where the death of a woman
is caused by any burns or bodily or occurs otherwise than under
normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is
shown that immediately before her death she was harassed and put
to cruelty by her husband or any relative of the husband in
connection with demand for dowry, such death shall be called as
dowry death; and sub-section (2) provides punishment with a
minimum of seven years which may extend to imprisonment for life.
Section 174 and 176 of CrPC, deals with the investigations and
inquires into the causes of unnatural deaths, by the police and
magistrate respectively.
The Amendment Act 1983 makes it mandatory for the police officer
to send the body for post-mortem examination if the death of the
woman occurred with in seven years of marriage as a result of
suicide or under other suspicious circumstances. A new section
113-B was added in the Indian Evidence Act which deals with the
burden of proof in dowry deaths according to which the Court has
to presume that a dowry death was caused by the person who is
shown to have subjected the woman to cruelty or harassment soon
before her death.
Judicial Efforts
Apart from the efforts of legislature, judiciary is also playing a
important role in combating and eradicating the evil dowry system
from the Indian society. In case of
Kundula Bala Subrahmaniam V State of A.P.
, the Supreme Court gave some indications in dealing with the case
of dowry related violence.
The Apex Court observed that such cases ought to be dealt with in
a more realistic manner and criminals should not be allowed to
escape on account of procedural technicalities or insignificant
lacunae in the evidence and the courts are expected to be
sensitive in cases involving crime against women. In case of
Stree Atyachar Virodhi Parishad V. Dilip Nathumal Chordia,
The supreme Court observed, ' We are referring to these provisions
only to emphasize that it is not enough if the legal order with
the sanction above moves forward for protection of women and
preservation of societal values. The criminal justice system must
equally respond to the needs and notions of the society. The
investigating agency must display a live concern. The Court must
also display greater sensitivity to criminality and avoid on all
courts 'soft
justice'.
In a number of decisions the Supreme Court has shown practical
approach in dealing with bride burning cases, some cases are as
follows:
State (Delhi Admn.) V Laxman Kumar , State of Punjab V. Amarjit
Singh , Subrahmanyam V. State of A.P . and Sarojini V State of M.P.
, which reflect this approach of the Apex Court.
Rise of Dowry Violence De Spite of Laws:
the legal and judicial efforts to eradicate the evil system of
dowry failed to make any remarkable break in alarming rise of this
dowry system. The National Crime Records statistics show that
there have been over 58,000 incidents of dowry harassment and over
6, 7000 dowry murders in the year 2005, and as per national crime
Bureau, in the year 1994- there were 4,935 dowry deaths and 25,946
cases of dowry harassment, this shows that in the sort span of ten
years dowry related crimes accelerated at a very high speed. It
may be said that approximately 56,000 dowry deaths and more than
40,000 cases of dowry harassment takes place every where.
Moreover, cases which occur in privacy of husband's house are much
more and go unreported.
Conclusion
The evil system of dowry is still in practice and culturally
approved and socially recognized. Dowry is public all condemned
but privately followed in practice. The belief that the evil of
dowry which is deep rooted in the Indian society can be eradicated
by just making laws is no more stands true. The first Prime
Minister of India, Late Pandit Nehru, who played an active role in
social engineering, had said that, ' Legislation alone cannot
eradicate the deep rooted social problem.
The laws enacted to eradicate the evil system of dowry from the
society should be supported and backed by the public opinion. If
progressive legislations lacks the support of public opinion it is
no more than a waste bundle of papers and are regarded as dead
law; As is case with the Indian Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, It
must be asserted that a social reform should be done in consonance
with social thinking, behaviour and after creation of a strong
public opinion, as laws could only be effective when they are
hacked by major section of the society. Moreover, law can only
catalyze change in social behaviour, but the real change in
society can be brought through the creation of new values and
aspirations and willingness of the people to change their
centuries old attitude. The massive task of social engineering
cannot be achieved as long as the centuries old attitude and
thinking remains deep rooted in the prevailing society. Apart,
from this public awareness through education, media and through
other means should be created;
political will and commitment combined with efficient
administrative support are need to tackle the problem of dowry
social legislations must be backed by the social awareness and
must match the letter and spirit of law. As it is rightly said by
Pluto,
No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.
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The
author can be reached at: vijaypalsingh3@legalserviceindia.com /
