Dowry: What is the Price of Love?

Dowry: What is the Price of Love?
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Dowry: What is the Price of Love?
Dowry giving is the ancient marital custom in many communities around the world. In African societies, the broom gives the bride's family dowry both as a token of appreciation for raising their daughter and shows that the groom and his family can sufficiently take care of the bride. This is because the bride is lifted from the care of her parents to the care of the husband to be and his family. In Asia, the custom takes a reverse in which the bride's family gives dowry instead. Whichever one looks at it, this ancient custom remains revered and controversial on ethical and moral grounds. In my opinion, the dowry custom lacks moral ground and is oppressive.
In a 2006 article published in New York Times, Amelia Gentleman tells the story of Kamlesh, an 18-year-old bride whose family failed to raise sufficient dowry for her wedding. According to Gentleman (2006), the husband had expected a scooter, and his family had demanded more than 51,000 rupees ($1,100), but Kamlesh's family could not meet this demand. After three years of marriage, the request for extended dowry settlement became worse and was accompanied by threats of violence. At one time, the husband hit her on the head with a wooden stick, tied her, and locked her in a cowshed despite bleeding profusely.
Kamlesh's story is an example of what many Indian women go through because of the dowry custom. Indeed, India banned dowry through the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 because of these problems. India still experiences up to 8,000 dowry deaths per year (Dhillon, 2021). This translates to the death of 20 women per day related to dowry demands by their husbands or their husbands' families. By definition, dowry death is the end of a married...