According to the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, “Dowry is any party who, directly or indirectly, transfers or agrees to transfer any property or valuable security to the other party at any time before or after the marriage.” However, if a person who is not directly related to the marriage gives a gift of Tk.500 or less to any party, it will not be considered as dowry. However, if this amount is exchanged as a condition of marriage, it will be considered as dowry.
In Islam, just as interest and kickback have been declared prohibited (haram), so too has dowry been warned to be haram. Women are considered as the mother, the claimants of outstanding honor and they are not a cheap product that will be bargained for, auctioned off. In Islam, marriage is basically an order and blessing of Allah and through it people fulfill their natural needs in a legal way. Gets peace in family life and gives birth legally and that is why the Prophet (PBUH) instructed all young men who are able to support their wives to marry, forbade them to live a monastic life, and in the present society, a demon called dowry is making a sacred act like marriage horrible. In Islam, it is obligatory for men to pay an endowment (mohrana) to their wives during marriage. The Qur’an declares, “So marry them with the consent of their guardians, and give them their endowment in a just manner.” (Surah An-Nisa ‘, verse 25). But there are many incidents of disrespect and oppression of women for dowry in the society of Bangladesh and even murder after being tortured by the husband or his relatives for dowry is not uncommon.
In today’s society, in addition to large sums of money as dowry, flat, houses or high quality cars with TVs, fridges, expensive furniture, etc. are demanded. The cost of sending the son abroad as a dowry or putting him in a job is also agreed upon, even after so many things, the daughter’s father cannot be free from responsibility and repeated pressures keep coming from the in-laws’ house. If the guardian of the daughter is able to meet the needs, then the wife is considered as the best. And if the girl’s guardian is disabled, then only torture, inhuman torture and various allegations start. The wife’s speech and all her activities seemed untouchable like a bitter fruit. The murder plot started with mental and physical torture, sometimes the helpless girl had to be brutally killed. After the murder, the body is hung on the ceiling fan, either as evidence of suicide or floated in the river or buried under the ground in the dark of night; As if the corpse goes behind the eyes of the people, so that even the crows do not notice and this is the poisonous consequence of the dowry system.
In South Asian countries, the practice of betting on marriage has been going on for hundreds of years. The families of the girls give cash, gold ornaments, expensive clothes, furniture and many other things as dowry. In India, giving and taking bets was banned by law in 1961. However, it could not be completely stopped in Indian society. Dowry has been banned in Bangladesh since 1980. After that, a new law called Dowry Prohibition Act, 2018 was passed by amending it in two phases. Where there is a system of punishment upto a maximum of five years. However, this case is important only if it involves torture and it is tried under the Women and Child Abuse Prevention Act.
However, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980 failed to curb the curse of dowry in this country. As a result, dowry claims resulted in torture on the bride, they are physically abused and it even leads to murder. In view of this, the government was compelled to enact the Women and Child Abuse (Special Provisions) Act, 1995 to provide punishment for inflicting minor or serious injuries, attempted murder or murder on a woman or child in the name of dowry. But that law was not proven enough to deal with this curse, so the law was repealed in 2000 and the Women and Child Abuse Suppression (Torture Punishment) Act 2000 came into force. The law was amended again in 2003, article 11 of the amended law provides for the death penalty for murder for demanding dowry, life imprisonment for attempted murder, imprisonment for 5 to 12 years for causing grievous bodily harm and 1 to 3 years imprisonment for common or minor injury.
Despite all these drastic measures taken by the government to curb the curse of dowry system, it was not possible to prevent dowry; On the contrary, it is on the rise and the victims of this curse are slowly destroying their economic structure. The curse of dowry, the religion and caste of Bangladesh has become so infectious in all societies that it has spread from the upper and middle class to the lowest level of poverty. Therefore, it is important to enforce the law to prevent dowry, so too the social movement must continue. Those who are giving or taking dowry are social criminals and they have to boycott. As it is a social disorder, so the younger generation needs to understand it and initiate a social movement.
(Md. Zillur Rahaman is Banker and Freelance Contributor).
