Paper long abstract:

Dowry Practices: Human Rights Violation of Indian Brides

By

Dr. Debjani halder

In the name of Indian Tradition and Hindutava , a very strong gender bias has not only referred to the son preference, also it has violated to the human rights of married women. It is a very remarkable question of the article that why can we accept that dowry is an inevitable. Dowry has often cited as a reason why couples do not want to give birth to a female child. This according to some shows daughter aversion rather than son preference. Dowry is normally has given by the girl's/brides family to the boy/bridegroom and his family though certain gifts are also given by the boy's family to the girl particularly at the time of marriage. However, these can hardly be considered to be dowry as the law distinguishes, however imperfectly, between presents and dowry. Dowry leads to, in many cases, a devaluation of the girl as a human being. She is largely valued according to the dowry she has brought or is likely to bring in the future. If she has not brought or cannot bring 'sufficient' dowry she is ill- treated, abused mentally and physically and, in a surprising large number of cases, killed or driven to suicide. Therefore, in India dowry does not only fuel daughter aversion but also leads to wife/bride hatred and violence against her. So to fight against dowry was, not only to "uplift" women, but to a step towards Women's emancipation.