Hootfor

Ever since ancient times of the Vedas, dowry has been a tormenting part of Indian marriages. Sad but true the evil of killing the girl child, which is one of the worst crime against women, came up from the practice of dowry system. In ancient days, when the evil cause was more seriously followed by people of all castes, the poor ones thought of killing the girl child when they were born to get rid of paying heavy amounts as dowry. Enlightenment came, reforms were made, yet these evil practices continue to ruin lives of women everywhere. In 1961, Dowry Prohibition Act was passed, but still more than 10,000 dowry cases are registered every year. Some of these are genuine complaints of tortured women but then there are some cases which mark the misuse of this law. The home ministry has recently asked all state governments to be judicious in invoking the stringent anti-dowry section of IPC in matrimonial disputes as the provision may be used as weapons rather than shields by disgruntled wives.