Marriage in India is considered to be a very holy event with various ceremonies and deep-rooted cultural beliefs. These practices are passed on through word of mouth and keep changing as time changes. Yet there are certain practices that don't change for the changes in the culture of a society. One such practice is the system of dowry.

The practice of dowry started from the medieval period whereby valuable gifts were given to the bride from her family members for security and independence. These gifts continued to be owned by the bride even after marriage.

With modernization taking place at a rapid pace, the very concept of dowry also changed whereby it was done due to demands from the groom's family rather than doing it voluntarily. This led to a lot of violence against women.

Usually, dowry is demanded by the husband or the in-laws of the bride. To protect women from such offenses, strict laws were introduced by the Government of India. Section 498A and 304B were added to the Indian Penal Code through amendments.

Though such laws have been implemented, dowry is still a continuing and growing practice.

The Bride Herself Is Dowry

Any young man, who makes dowry a condition to marriage, discredits his education and his country and dishonors womanhood. - Mahatma Gandhi.

According to the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, dowry is a demand for property or valuable security having an inextricable nexus with the marriage, that is, it is a consideration from the side of the bride's parents or relative to the groom or his parents and/or guardian for the agreement to wed the bride to be.

Dowry in its essence means the demand for property or valuable security having an inextricable nexus with marriage[1]

Any property given by parents of the bride need not be in consideration of the marriage, it can even be in connection with the marriage and would constitute dowry.[2]

The practice of dowry has become a nationwide concern. Its practice and how it brings about an evil spirit in the society has been portrayed in many movies and TV soap operas, in all languages. They convey important messages to the society at large.

History:
The first-ever occurrence of the practice of dowry in South Asia dates back to approximately two thousand years; to the Manu asserting Stridhana, which includes gifts that are voluntarily and exclusively given to the bride from her household. It is entirely different from the practice of modern dowry.

Stridhana under the Vedic culture as defined by Yagnyavalkya is:

• The wealth the women have earned from their father, mother, husband and brother out of love and affection.
• The wealth is given to the bride by her maternal uncle and relative etc. at the time of marriage in presence of nuptial fire.
• The wealth that is given by the husband at the time of the second marriage to satisfy his previous wife.
• The wealth is given to the bride by the cousins and relatives of her parents.
• The wealth is given to the bride from the side of the bridegroom before marriage towards duty.
• The wealth is given to the newly wedded bride at the time of her departure from her father's house.
• The property that the bride got in her matrimonial house after her marriage.
• The wealth is given to the new daughter-in-law by the father-in-law or mother-in-law out of love and affection.
• The wealth received by married or unmarried daughter in her parental house from her brother or parent.

Historians trace the perception of dowry back to the concept of Kandyadhana, along with the moral basis of Stridhana. Kandyadhana is a practice that is followed bymost Hindu households, where the father presents his daughter as a gift to the groom, at the time of their marriage for social security.

The practice of dowry existed even before the British Rule and the basis on which it was practiced was very different from what it is today. It was an institution managed by women, for women, to enable them to establish their status, maintain their independence and have recourse in an emergency. The parents or relatives of the bride gave wealth to their daughter in the form of valuable gifts, land, etc. It is to be noted that it was given only to the bride and not to the groom. The gifts so given were continued to be owned by the wife even after marriage, which gave financial independence to the woman.

Causes And Effects Of Dowry:

Causes:

• Greediness- The concept of dowry demands come from the greed factor that is prevalent in our society. In the name of compensation of the groom's education expenses, cash and valuable goods are demanded and extorted shamelessly by the groom's family and these are expected to be met in silence.
   
• Structure of the society-One of the main causes of the collection of dowries is the mentality of the society at large, that men are the breadwinners of the family and are considered to be superior in aspects of mental as well as physical activities than women. Due to this, women are subjected to domestic work and this leads to them being treated as an economic burden, first by her father, then by her husband.
   
• Religious Mandates- The very fact that for an arranged marriage, a suitable groom is searched based on a lot of religious factors such as gotra, horoscope matching, etc. This reduces the number of suitable grooms. With this in mind, they consider themselves as a blessing and demand dowry for this very purpose.
   
• Illiteracy- Lack of formal education to girls is reduced as it is taken in that the money spent on such education for the girl is saved for her marriage in the future. Its roots back to why the father considers giving birth to a girl is an economical burden.
   
• Status- Getting dowry is an official way of showing off in society. The more you get; the higher is the status in society. The bride's family is exploited due to this, which is usually not considered.

Effects:

• Violence against women- Dowry is not a one-time payment. The bride's family is looked like a constant source of finance. The inability of the bride's family to pay often leads to the mental and physical violence against the bride in her matrimonial home. This constant source of torture leads the women to go into depression and eventually commit suicide. Statistics say that on average, 20 women die per day being unable to meet the demands of her matrimonial home.
   
• Gender inequality- The very idea of dowry instigates gender inequality. Violation of Article 14 of our Constitution starts from the birth of the child. Girls are made to do domestic household work while watching their brothers go get a proper education. Why? So that they can exploit the lives of other girls and their families. Even though Article 14 is being guaranteed by our constitution, this problem of gender inequality is still a big issue and it is up to the Government to create awareness among all sections of people that such practices bring about an evil spirit in our society.
   
• Gender imbalance- In some households, having a daughter is considered as an economic burden. So, they kill them when they are a kid. Due to this, there is a huge gender imbalance in our country. There aren't enough women for the men in our country to marry. Statistics show that for every 1000 men only 945 women are there.

These are the causes and effects that dowry has in our society. This proves that it is the biggest evil spirit in our country.

Practice Of Dowry In Hindu Religion:

In Hinduism, the concept of marriage is considered to be an extremely holy process whereby the bride, as well as the groom, is trained to fast in such a manner to concentrate on the spiritual aspects of the ceremonies.
One of the effects of dowry was the proliferation of child marriage in North India during the medieval period which was very rare in the Vedic period.

This was done due to the difficulties faced by the families in protecting their grown-up daughters after they lost their independence. The only way to save their family's honor was to get their daughters married off to someone else's family so that they would be responsible for her protection.[3] This concept was widely portrayed among Indian movies and television shows to create awareness among the general public that such a practice is toxic and constituted a lot of evil aspects in society. One such show which was very popular for portraying this concept was Balika Vadhu. (Hindi soap opera)

Initially, when this concept was introduced in the Vedic period, it was followed by the upper classes as it would benefit the bride, who was unable to inherit property from Hindu law. Due to this, the bride's family would offer the groom dowry, which would be registered under the name of the bride for security. While the upper caste practiced dowry, the lower caste practiced the system of bride price where the groom pays of contributes valuable gifts as compensation to the bride's family for the loss of income.

Dowry in today's world is different and it is not the same practice as that of the Vedic times. The concept of bride price slowly started declining and dowry became the more prevalent practice. Dowry now is considered as a consideration needed to be given by the bride's family to the groom for marriage.

Dowry In Muslim Marriages:

Unlike other religions, Islam strongly advocates marriage and considers it to be a social necessity and the very purpose of it is to create families, which is considered to be the fundamental unit of the society as such. The concept of a Muslim marriage or nikkah is based on a civil contract. All contracts must have consideration and consideration, in this case, is the dower/mahr. However, it is to be noted that this concept is treated as a mark of respect towards the wife.

Dower/Mahr -Mulla defines it as a sum of money or any other property which the wife is entitled to receive from her husband and his family in consideration of the marriage. Islamic laws give a lot of importance to the protection of women. Here, the term consideration' is not intended in the literal sense; it is given as a gesture of love and affection.

Importance- It enables protection to the wife against the arbitrary exercise of the power of divorce by the husband. It also keeps a check on the husband's extravagance while having more than one wife.

There are two main types of dower:

• Specified dower: the amount of dower is fixed before or at the time of marriage by the parties. It is also called Mahr i Musamaa. A deed on this behalf is not necessary under this law. If the bridegroom is of unsound mind, the father or the guardian can decide the dower.
   
• Proper dower: the amount is not fixed before or at the time of marriage. The husband or the groom is liable to pay the wife or the bride a reasonable amount as dower and it is payable on demand. This type of dower is usually determined by the court.

This concept differs again in Shia and Sunni laws with respect to the minimum level of the amount of dower, the maximum limit, agreements to waive dower, the consummation of the marriage,etc.
There is another concept called jeez, which is the Arabic translation of dowry. It is of two types:

• essential articles for the outfit of the bride as well as conjugal life
• It is made up of valuable gifts, clothes, jewelry, and an amount of money to the groom's family (which is settled after bargaining), etc.

Dowry In Christian Marriages:

Dowry is being practiced in Christianity too. However, the Church does not give adequate attention to conscientize the practice of dowry. Instead, it remains silent about its existence.

Dowry is a complete rejection of the Christian values of marriage. In the context of Christian marriages, love is the base for going towards the next step, that is, the marriage. But currently, with the present generation, what comes to mind before entering into the customs and rituals of marriage is dowry. Due to this, marriage has lost its meaning and it has merely become a business deal. Dowry makes the Christian discourse on marital love meaningless.

Syrian Christians:

the Christians of Kerala are referred to as Syrian Christians. Earlier, there was a ceremony called the settlement ceremony. In this ceremony, the actual amount of dowry would be announced to the guests who were gathered for the ceremony. By making such an announcement to the gathering they not only assured the guests on the financial position of the bride's family but also stated the economic worth of the groom to be wedded and his family. Also, the church receives one percent of the sum of money given as dowry from both the parties of the marriage.

Once the girl gets married, she has no claim on her father's household or his property. In many middle-class families, the daughters could be married off only after paying a huge sum of money as dowry. The financial constraint is thus eased by the dowry brought in by the brides of the sons. Sometimes, sons were married off to provide dowries for daughters. When this fails to work, the daughters remained unmarried and became unpaid servants. This custom of arranging marriages continues today among the Syrian Christians, but with a lot of modification to it.

Since the custom of dowry is counter to the values of Christianity, it is high time for the Church to take a stand against the system of dowry and to make her members conscious of the evils of the system of dowry and the destruction of the Christian family.

Social Evil Of Dowry:

The practice of dowry has a lot of ill effects on society. It has eroded the beautiful institution of marriage into a mere contract of giving and taking of money and valuable assets in consideration for the marriage.
A few of the social evils that the dowry brings along with it are:

• Female feticide- Even today, when there are so many laws for prohibiting these kinds of acts, the statistics still show that the practice is still being continued in many parts of the country and is also on the rise in some parts. One of the biggest reasons behind this practice is the very thought that a girl child will bring an extra burden to the household as a considerable amount of expense should be borne by her family during the marriage. Therefore, people find it better to eradicate the root of the problem, Female child.
   
• Suicide by young girls- Many times when the parents are not able to get their daughters married off due to dowry problems, it brings a bad image for them in the society due to which the family is continuously harassed which drives the girl to commit suicide to put an end to the torture.
   
• Lack of education-This has been a huge problem for a long time. Many families fail to educate their daughters to save money for their marriage and the payment of dowry.

Abuse:
If the groom and his family members are unsatisfactory with the gifts' they received from the bride's family, it leads to abuse. This results in the abuse of bride before, after or after the wedding. This can include:

• Physical abuse-Any act or conduct that is of such a nature as to cause physical injury, damage or danger to the life, limb or health or development of the aggrieved person, including abuse, criminal activity and criminal intimidation.
• Sexual abuse- includes any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates or otherwise violates the dignity of a woman.
• Emotional abuse- includes insults, name-calling or ridicule.

Over the last few years, the number of bride harassment cases as well as dowry deaths has increased widely. Over time, as urbanization and modernization take place, there is a steep increase in greed or the necessity for having more than what one should have, has increased, especially among men. The purpose of security and a sense of independence among women have declined drastically.

Therefore, to prevent dowry deaths and abuse of brides in their matrimonial houses, India introduced strict anti-dowry laws. One such law is through an amendment of the Indian Penal Code, came Section 498A, which says:
Whoever being the husband or relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend 3 years and shall also be liable to fine

For this act, cruelty means

1. Willful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman.
2. Harassment of the woman with the intent of coercing her to any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.

A complainant under section 498A, limitation period- As per Section 468 CrPC, a complaint alleging commission of an offense under Section 498-A can be filed within 3 years of the alleged incident. However, Section 473 CrPC enables the Court to take cognizance of an offense after the period of limitation if it is satisfied that it is necessary so to do in the interest of justice.

The essence of the offense in Section 498-A is cruelty. It is a continuing offense and on each occasion on which the woman was subjected to cruelty, she would have a new starting point of limitation[4]
There is another section under the very same code that talks about dowry death in particular, which is section 304B. This section says that:

1. Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or har­assment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called “dowry death”, and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.
   
   Explanation: For this sub-section, dowry shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961).
2. Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life.

The State of Andhra Pradesh has questioned the legality of the judgment rendered by a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court holding respondents to be not guilty of the alleged offenses for which the Trial Court had convicted them i.e. offenses punishable under Section 304B and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code 1860.

The deceased committed suicide within 7 months from the date of their marriage. The demand for dowry from the mother in law and brother in law of the deceased women led to the harsh treatment of the deceased after the marriage which made her commit suicide. A conjoint reading of Section 113-B of the Evidence Act and Section 304-B IPC shows that there must be material to show that soon before her death the victim was subjected to cruelty or harassment. Hence the court held that the accused were to be punished under Section 304-B of IPC and Section 113-B of the Evidence Act.[5]

Now the question that arises is why do you need an extra provision when you have a section for dowry death in the very same code? There are certain differences between section 304B and section 498A.
First off, they are not mutually exclusive. They are considered to be two distinct offenses but they overlap on many occasions. The only common essential that both have is that to file a case under these sections, the prosecution has to prove that the woman had been abused and that she had undergone cruelty.

Section 304B was inserted after Section 498A due to the rise in the number of dowry deaths. One of the main differences between these two sections is that an offense under 304B means that the death of the woman should be caused, whereas if the woman is subject to cruel treatment or is being harassed or abused, then it will constitute as an offense under Section 498A.

It is to be noted that Sections 304B and 498A, IPC, cannot be held to be communally inclusive. These provisions deal with two distinct offenses. Cruelty indeed is a common essential to both the Sections and that has to be proved. The explanation to Section 498A establishes the meaning of cruelty. In Section 304B, there is no such explication about the meaning of cruelty. But having regard to common backdrop to these offenses, it has to be taken that the meaning of cruelty or harassment is the same as provided in the Explanation to Section 498A under which cruelty by itself amounts to an offense.

Under Section 304B, it is `dowry death' that is a punishable crime and such death should have transpired within seven years of marriage. No such period is mentioned in Section 498A. A person charged and acquitted under Section 304Bcan be convicted under Section 498A without that charge being there if such a case is made out. If the case is established, there can be a conviction under both sections.[6]

Though the amendments introduced in the penal code are with the estimable object of eliminating the evil of dowry, such provisions cannot be allowed to be misused by the parents and the relatives of a lunatic wife who may have chosen to end her life for the reason which may be any other than cruelty. The glaring reality cannot be ignored; that the ugly trend of false implications in a view to harass and blackmail an innocent spouse and his relatives, that is, fast emerging[7]

Bride burning- it is a form of domestic violence practiced in many parts of our country. If a young woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family's refusal to pay additional dowry, it is called as bride burning. The wife is literally doused with gasoline, kerosene or any other flammable liquid and set her alight, leading to her death, by fire. This is treated as culpable homicide, and if proven, imprisonment for life or even death, as the case may be.

Causes:
One of the main causes of this is that a women's role in society is determined even before she is born which places her status less than that of a man. She is seen as a burden and as an extra mouth to feed.[8]
The punishment awarded to the accused during these bride burning cases are death as these are considered to be the rarest of the rare cases as put forth in the case of Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab[9] and Machi Singh's and Others vs the State of Punjab.[10] (Life imprisonment is the rule and death sentence is the exception)

Other Anti - Dowry Laws:

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961:
This Act was enacted on May 1, 1961, but came into force only on July 1, 1961. The objective of the Act is for the prevention of dowry and it applies to all religions in India.

According to this act, goods, property or money given by either party to the marriage or by the parents or by any third party who is related to the marriage is considered as dowry. This Act and some of the sections of the Indian Penal Code were amended further to protect the female victims from the violence related to dowry.

The Act was amended first in the year 1984 and again in 1986. The amendments included the punishments for giving and receiving dowry and penalties were created for demanding dowry or offering money or property. Dowry Prohibition Act defines dowry as anyvaluable security or property given or agreed to be given in connection to the marriage.

According to section 3 of the Act, it is an offense to take and give dowry. The bridegroom's family will be held liable for taking dowry along with the family of the bride for showing their consent to give dowry. “If any person after the commencement of the Act gives or takes, abets the giving or taking of dowry shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than five years and with fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more.”

According to section 4 of the Act, if any person directly or indirectly demands dowry from the parents, relatives or guardians of the bride or the bridegroom shall be punished with an imprisonment of not less than six months and which shall extend to two years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.

According to section 4-A, the advertisement in any newspaper, journal or through any other medium or a share in the property, business, money, etc by any person in consideration for marriage shall be punished with an imprisonment which shall not be less than six months and which may extend to five years or with fine which may extend to fifteen thousand. Section 6 of the Act says dowry will be for the benefit of the wife or her heirs and the rules require a list of gifts to be maintained by both the bride and groom.

Section 8(B) of the Act discusses the appointment and working of Dowry Prohibition Officers. There are few states which have specially appointed social workers while some have designated SDM's as Dowry Prohibition officers. Yet people are not aware of their existence.

The number of cases reported under the Dowry Prohibition Act in India was 9894 during the year 2015 out of which the top ten states which have reported cases under this act are:

1. Uttar Pradesh - 2766 in 2015
2. Bihar - 1867 in 2015
3. Jharkhand - 1552 in 2015
4. Karnataka - 1541 in 2015
5. Odisha - 1201 in 2015
6. Tamil Nadu - 333 in 2015
7. Andhra Pradesh - 303 in 2015
8. Assam - 95 in 2015
9. Madhya Pradesh - 62 in 2015
10. Maharashtra - 42 in 2015[11]

Indian Evidence Act, 1872:

Presumption as to dowry death (Section 113 B) - Section 113 B reads as follows:

When the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a woman and it is shown that soon before her death such woman had been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, the court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death.

Misuse
Every law has its use as well as its misuse. Even though these anti-dowry laws serve as a defense for women, it is proved to be a nuisance for men. Not all the cases filed by women regarding dowry are true. More than 40% of these cases are false.

With the world changing at a rapid pace, the mentality and thinking process of women also changes. They are no longer naïve and innocent. Rather they have become greedy and selfish. But the law in favor of them does not change as the world changes.

The term domestic violence' has not been properly defined under any law and it is always used only towards the favor of women. In today's generation, men are also victims. In the name of feminism, women tend to misuse the laws that have been introduced for their protection and defense as most of these laws have a conviction period of not less than 7 years.

In the year 2011- 10,193 false cases were registered in 2012- 10,235 false cases and in 2013 the number went up to 10,964 false cases against the husband and his family, in 2015- 10,000 false cases were filed by women against their in-laws. Nearly 200,000 people, including 47,951 women, were arrested regarding dowry offenses in 2012, but only 15% of the accused were convicted.[12]In 2015-16, according to Jaipur Police, the number of fake cases against men that have been registered comes up to around 4200. A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad, recently in a twenty-one-page order had mentioned that the simplest way to harass the husband is to get him and his relatives arrested.

The harsh law, far from helping the genuine victimized women, has become a source of blackmail and harassment of husbands and others. Once a complaint (FIR) is lodged with the Police under s.498A/406 IPC, it becomes an easy tool in the hands of the Police to arrest or threaten to arrest the husband and other relatives named in the FIR without even considering the intrinsic worth of the allegations and making a preliminary investigation.

When the members of a family are arrested and sent to jail, with no immediate prospect of bail, the chances of amicable reconciliation or salvaging the marriage will be lost once and for all. The possibility of reconciliation, it is pointed out, cannot be ruled out and it should be fully explored. The imminent arrest by the Police will thus be counterproductive.

The long and protracted criminal trials lead to acrimony and bitterness in the relationship among the kith and kin of the family. Pragmatic realities have to be taken into consideration while dealing with matrimonial matters with due regard to the fact that it is a sensitive family problem which shall not be allowed to be aggravated by overzealous/callous actions on the part of the Police by taking advantage of the harsh provisions of s.498A of IPC together with its related provisions in CrPC. It is pointed out that the string is not in s.498A as such, but in the provisions of CrPC making the offense non-compoundable and nonbailable.'[13]

Supreme Court gave directions to prevent misuse of Section 498-A IPC. These directions include:

1. Complaints under Section 498-A, and other connected offenses may be investigated only by a designated Investigating Officer of the area.
2. If a settlement is reached between the parties, it is open to them to approach the High Court under Section 482 seeking quashing of proceedings or any other order.
3. If a bail application is filed with at least one day's notice to the Public Prosecutor/complainant, the same may be decided as far as possible on the same day. Recovery of disputed dowry items may not, by it, be a ground for denial of bail if maintenance or other rights of wife/minor children can otherwise be protected.
4. In respect of persons ordinarily residing out of India impounding of passports or issuance of Red Corner Notice should not be a routine.
5. These directions will not apply in case of tangible physical injuries or death.[14]

I was alive, 498A killed me. - Amit Bhandari in his book has highlighted the torture that men go through when fake cases, especially under dowry, have been filed against them. It pictures an actual case where the police had arrested a man blindly without surfacing through an investigation and how it affected the man and his family. [15]

Certain cases are filed by women for attaining personal vendetta and to satisfy their grudges. It may, therefore, become necessary for the Legislature to find out ways how the makers of frivolous complaints or allegations can be appropriately dealt with.'[16]

It appears that the legislature was mindful of the fact and situation that this provision may be exploited that it defined cruelty and for that purpose harassment falling within the parameters of intentional conduct‖ of such a degree that may either drive the women to commit suicide or danger to life, limb or health or cause grave injury.

Of course, health means mental health also and not just physical health, but unfortunately, these provisions have been abused by the investigation and prosecuting agencies and exploited by the women and her relatives to such an extent that these have proved to be the most ineffective in curbing the evil of dowry as well as disciplining the husband and his relatives to treat the women humanely and give the bride and wife proper respect and honor.[17]

The Supreme Court observed that Section 498A is a cognizable and non- bailable offense and has lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives. The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his relatives arrested under this provision.[18]

Criticisms:
The purpose of introducing these kinds of laws is for the protection of women. Even though it is for the protection of women, they tend to misuse these laws for their gain. As mentioned in the previous section, we have seen that nowadays, men have also become victims due to the misuse of these laws and the fact that domestic violence is used only towards women. This very fact contradicts Article 14 of The Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality among all the citizens of India. Even though there are laws such as the Indian Penal Code, which punishes the women in case of a false claim, still there are many cases where men are being convicted for the wrong reasons blindly. This is one of the major loopholes in the law.

Although the Government of India took a lot of measures intending to curb dowry, it is still being practiced in most parts of our country. Still, many cases have not been reported, or if reported, are not being taken seriously by the authorities. The practice is now treated as a ceremony in all religions which makes it impossible to put an end to it.

Solution
There are laws and various other programs put forth by the Government to curb this practice, yet it still takes place in many parts of the country.

Education should be made available to girls. Many parts of our country have very poor education facilities. It is either that or that the households still think that having a daughter is a burden in society. It doesn't end by providing education. They should be educated enough to face the world.

Dowry is mainly collected by the groom's family to compensate for the investments made by his family for his education, etc. This mindset should also change to curb the practice of dowry.
Even though there is proper implementation of the laws introduced by the Government in respect of protecting women from the tortures of dowry, there is still a lag as the system is continued to be practiced.
Inter caste and inter-religion marriages have to be encouraged in society. This enables the bride to have a wider choice of grooms and will be one of the easiest ways to get out of the vicious cycle of the practice of dowry.

End-Notes:

1. Arjun DhondibaKamble vState of Maharashtra, 1995 AIR HC 273
2. Rajeev v. Ram Kishan Jaiswal,1994 Cri LJ 255(NOC)
3. Mr. HB Thakur- History of Dowry in Hindus.
4. Arun Vyas v. Anita Vyas, [(1999) 4 SCC 690.]
5. State of Andhra Pradesh vs Rajgopal Asawa & ANR[(2004) 4 SCC 470]
6. Balwant Singh & Ors v State Of H.P
7. Balbir Singh v The State of Punjab,1987 (1) Cri LJ-76
8. Avnita Lakhani- Report on bride burning.
9. (AIR 1980 SC 898)
10. (AIR 1983 SC 957)
11. https://community.data.gov.in/cases-reported-under-dowry-prohibition-act-during-2015/ (visited on 10th October)
12. National Crime Records Bureau Statistics- http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/07/03/women-misusing-indias-anti-dowry-law-says-supreme-court/
13. Malimath's Committee, Report: Reforms of the criminal justice system
14. Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar v. Union of India (2018) SCC 1501
15. http://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=97cb3603-be33-4236-9cdb7a2d65490f2e&txtsearch=Source:%20www.mightylaws.in.
16. Sushil Kumar Sharma Vs. Union of India, (2005) 6 SCC 281
17. Savitri Devi Vs. Ramesh Chand & Others(2003 (69) DRJ 6)
18. Arnesh Kumar Vs. State of Bihar & Others (2014) 8 SCC 273

Written By:

1. Meghana Shivakumar and
2. Sruthi Lakshmi v