Dowry System in India Problem Description: In India dowry (known as Daheji in Hindhi) is the payment in cash or some kind

of gifts given to bridegroom's family along with the bride. Generally they include cash, jewellery electrical appliances, furniture, bedding, crockery, utensils and other household items that help the newly-wed set up her home. The dowry has been considered as 'Stridhan' where 'stri' means women and 'dhan' means 'wealth'. There are several reasons for the prevalence of the dowry system, but the main one is that it is a necessary precondition for marriage. No dowry, no marriage, is a widespread fear.. The price tag for the groom is now bigger and bolder. The girls parents do not protest against thIs, as they regard it as a stepping-stone towards higher social status and better matches for the remaining children. The factors and forces responsible for the practice of dowry in India are: early marriages for girls, limited field of marriage, hypergamy, patriarchy, importance of education a false sense of prestige, materialistic attitude and economic prosperity. The consequences or demerits of dowry system include: female infanticide, late marriages for some girls, unsuitable matches for girls, lowering of women's status, breakdown of marriage, unhappy married life, tension between two families, increase in immorality, increase in mental diseases, suicide and impoverishment of middle class families by paying heavy dowries and a large number of dowry deaths. The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry, "as consideration for the marriage", and dowry here is defined as a gift demanded or given as "a pre-condition for a marriage". If any person demands, directly or indirectly, from the parents or other relatives or guardian of a bride or bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to two years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees. Problem Statement: To tackle the increasing Dowry deaths in India. Evidences: Following are the mentioned evidences of increasing deaths due to Dowry system in India: 1. Official figures from India's National Crime Records Bureau reveal that 8,233 young women, many of them new brides, were killed in so-called 'dowry deaths' in 2012.

2. As per The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a woman is killed every hour in India because her family failed to meet her husband and in-laws' demands for higher dowry payments and lavish gifts. 3. The NCRB statistics show that 91,202 dowry deaths were reported in the country from January 1, 2001 to December 31 2012. Out of that 84,013 were charged and sent for trial and the rest were either withdrawn by the government during the course of investigation or not investigated. Of this, 5,081 cases were reported to be false after investigations. 4. According to the Ministry of home Affairs, Govt. of India, it was found that in 2001 6851, 2002 6822, 2003 6208, 2004 7026, 2005 6787 dowry deaths were occurred. But it is not an exact data because there are many dowry deaths occurred, which are not registered.

Bibiliography: 1. Vijay Sharma, Protection to Married Women In Matrimonial Home, p. 48. 2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10280802/Woman-killed-over-dowryevery-hour-in-India.html

3. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/in-india-a-woman-dies-every-hour-due-to-dowry-relatedproblems-report-412891