dowry as social evil

Presented to : ma’am Atia

PRESENTED BY

TAQDEES IFTIKHAR

NIMRA TAHIR

Dowry originated in the upper caste Hindu communities as a wedding gift (cash or valuables) from the bride's family to the grooms

DOWRY• This is a totally un-Islamic practice. In Islam,

women are not the properties of their families or a material good. This is an insulting practice that we see being committed daily in our society. • The bridegroom to demand a certain amount

of money (or other items of value) from the bride or her family, usually the bride's father, without which the marriage cannot take place. • The curse of this deplorable practice is such

that many women don’t get married because their families cannot meet the long list of demands by the bridegroom!

Demands • Cultures that demand dowry from

the bride's family are actually practicing the opposite of what Allah has commanded. • They have reversed Allah's words

in their practice. The bride is forced to pay a negotiated amount to the groom unless the man chooses not to take it.

Demands from brides familyDemands from groom family

Effects

It is a sad irony that women (mostly mothers-in-law) are oppressive towards other women (daughters-in-law). Mostly, mothers-in-law-to-be are the ones who demand dowry from the bride's family and who end up torturing the daughter-in-law after marriage if she brings less than the negotiated amount.

Excessive money demands by grooms family after marriage.

Bride burningWhen the woman brings less than the negotiated amount, she has to endure constant torture from her in-laws after marriage. When the husband or in-laws are not satisfied with the dowry brought by the bride, they even go to the extent of killing the woman after marriage.

The most severe among all the dowry abuse is "bride burning". The parties engaged in the murder usually report the case as an accident or suicide.

Example1.• A family, where the combined income of father and son was Rs60,000

spent more than Rs800,000 on dowry, clothes, give-aways and various functions related to their daughter’s wedding.

Example 2.

• In another instance, a poor farmer in the village married his daughter to another farmer’s son and bore wedding expenses of Rs150,000 – most of which was borrowed from relatives or contributed by someone well-off.

Example 3• Another old man married his son who was a taxi-driver to another

man’s daughter – of similar financial stature – and bought gold worth Rs150,000 for the bride. He incurred additional expenses on arranging the ‘customary’ functions. The money was again borrowed from relatives and friends.

Victims of dowry Sakina

While talking toTHE DAILY News correspondent she told that she was victimized by her husband, mother in law and one sisters in law who burnt her because of lack of dowry.

Khalida

While taking to daily jung news

correspondent the psychiatrist told that khalida

is in miserable condition after dowry torture both physically

and mentally. She is all alone and even does

not have a home to live in.

Pakistan.• In Pakistan, dowry is called Jahez

in Arabic (derived from Islamic jahez-e-fatimi).• At over 2000 dowry-related

deaths per year, and annual rates exceeding 2.45 deaths per 100,000 women from dowry-related violence, Pakistan has the highest reported number of dowry death rates per 100,000 women in the world.

Laws • Pakistan has passed several laws to address the problem of excessive

dowry demands: West Pakistan Dowry (Prohibition of Display) Act, 1967; Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act, 1976.

• Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 185(3)—Recovery of dowry articles.

• These laws were introduced to take measures to regulate, restrict and ultimately eliminate the practice of dowry, but till today this legislation has not been enforce

• Are you in favor of ending dowry system ? 70 % yes 20% No

10 % Neutral

• do you think govt. should legally ban dowry?

• 45% no• 37% yes

• 18% don’t know

• Do you think dowry is main cause for female infanticide ? 40 % yes

35% may be one reason 10% no

15% neutral