Dowry: Is it a Brides Price or a Social Disea...

Dowry: Is it a Brides Price or a Social Disease

Author Name : Thokchom Loteshori Devi, Khangembam Debobala Devi, Dr. Khangembam Arundas Singh

ABSTRACT Dowry system is widely prevalent in our society. The concept of dowry system dates back to the ancient Roman and Greek civilization (Anderson, 2007). The dowry refers to any property, money, ornaments or any other form of money that the boy or his family receives at the time of marriage from his wife or his family .The Government of India enacted “Dowry Prohibition Act” in 1961, which was further amended in 1985 to control this menace. In spite of this act, the „Give and Take” phenomenon of dowry is practiced widely throughout the country. Irrespective of Caste and Class (Grantham, 2002), there is a need for stricter measures for confronting the menace of dowry evil. A number of slogan have been raised at different public fora “Dowry system is a Stigma on Indian Women”, “Dowry is a social evil”, “Dogs of Dowry”, “Worms of Dowry”. Dowry also called “Dahej”, “Ocher” in Latin, “Hunda” derived from the word “Handa‟ which means a pot.