Dowry/Daaj

The dowry system is most notably recognized as particular to India, although it has existed in some forms in various other countries, including some related practices noted by anthropologists in Europe and Africa. However, giving and receiving dowry appears to be a complex system in its variations in meanings and practices among families in various parts of India. The system has been undergoing numerous changes and legal reforms although some of its practices still exist even among affluent and educated people.

A dowry (called daaj in Panjabi and dahej in Hindi) is a form of a “gift” given by the bride's family to the groom's family (usually to his father) at the time of marriage but may be given even after the marriage on various occasions. Dowry is generally found to be an involuntary system and an established tradition, expected, and sometimes even demanded as a right or a claim made by the groom's family. The amount of dowry expected and given generally depends on the relative economic as well as the caste status of the bride's family among, for example, Hindus and Sikhs. Generally though, it consists of cash amounts and items such as jewelry, clothing, furnishings, appliances, or a car for bride and groom and his family members. Among the Muslims in India, Pakistan, and in several parts of the Middle East, however, the custom of dowry is almost the reverse. In this case, dowry (called “Mehr”) is fixed at the time of marriage by the family of the bride in terms of a cash amount that [Page 225]would be socially sanctioned as a claim to be made by her in case she is divorced by her husband. The amount is usually higher if the bride belongs to an above-average social class and is a virgin or had not previously been married and divorced.

Although the dowry system has been outlawed since the enactment of the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act in India's Penal Code (amended in 1984 and 1986), it is still socially and informally sanctioned, particularly in business castes and in rural communities. Raj argues that the dowry system has had both advantages and disadvantages for people. Its supporters claim that it used to be fair practice in the past because a woman could not inherit parents' land and other property. In that case, the dowry financially compensated her and her husband's family. Some even argue that by giving an attractive amount of dowry, the parents could find a suitable match for unattractive and uneducated daughters. Also, the dowry system has been an essential part of hypergamy (upward status mobility through marriage), particularly among relatively higher-status families who generally tend to use arranged marriages to consolidate or enhance their social status.

The dowry system in India has become a major problem and a hotly debated topic, however, particularly among many educated people as well as among Indian feminists. Jane Rudd demonstrates that the inability of a prospective bride and her family to meet the increasingly difficult dowry demands of the groom and his family is responsible for much of the domestic violence, including the neglect of daughters, female infanticide, sex-selective abortion, and harassment. Thousands of dowry-related murders and suicides, known as “dowry deaths” or “bride burning,” have been reported. Incidents of this type of violence against women generated a great deal of media publicity during the 1980s. Many reports indicated that a woman's value or worth is judged at her husband's home by the dowry she brings. Sometimes the husband's family is not satisfied with the amount of dowry his wife brings in as a marriage payment. As a result, soon after the marriage, the husband and his parents start demanding additional money or property. If the woman and her parents resist the additional demands, she may be beaten, psychologically tortured, murdered, or burnt to death by the so-called mysterious “kitchen fires.” There is evidence of women being set alight in kitchens often with their husbands and their in-laws (usually mothers-in-law) actively participating in the crime. So dowry, a cultural practice, is coming to be recognized as a criminal offense and strict penalties have been enacted for such offenses by the government of India.

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