Editorial
Dowry fatalities
This stain on society must be obliterated
THE death of a young housewife, who struggled for long nine days before succumbing to the burn injuries inflicted on her allegedly by the members of her husband's family, is another example of ghastly violence that our women are exposed to. The victim's family had reportedly failed to meet her husband's demand for dowry.
Now, such dowry-related violence against women is taking place from time to time, despite all that has been said and done to eliminate this social vice. The law against dowry is stringent enough to act as a deterrent. But the reality of the wretched lives of young women, particularly among the less educated sections of society, is that they still have to justify their presence in the husband's family by bringing in money and other valuables from their parents' home. This is something that cannot coexist with the plan of giving women their rightful place in society. And nothing can be more difficult for a man of limited means to pay a hefty amount as dowry for his daughter's marriage. Yet, this evil practice has spread its tentacles deep into society, causing great misfortune to the innocent girls.
We have to realise that the efforts made so far to put an end to repression on women have not produced the desired results. Obviously, the law is not enough to deal with the situation. The women's rights groups and the conscientious in society have to come forward to create the social awareness to eliminate the deep-seated evil once and for all. Resistance against it must take the form of an organised movement led by the intellectuals, religious leaders and all those who can play a role in shaping public opinion.
It is perhaps time we asked ourselves whether the lives of women are less valuable than that of their male counterparts. Ghoulish crimes like acid throwing and killing for dowry should put society as a whole to shame. It's clearly not enough to demand trial of the killers but to make sure they are punished. Essentially, we have to ensure that no such killing takes place in future if we don't want the façade of our civility to be torn apart time and again by such barbaric acts.
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