Although the dowry system is illegal in India, people continue to use it, kill many women each year, and still nothing is being done to stop it.
Roughly between 8,000 and 9,000 dowry deaths occur each year in India. A "dowry death" is when the family of the husband kills or attempts to kill the wife because the wife’s family did not pay enough, or they do not pay the husbands family fast enough. The payments can include things from money, to even vehicles. In most cases the wives are set on fire and burn alive. Some still live and have to live with terrible burns and must undergo countless numbers of surgeries. Another common way for the in-laws to torture the women is to pour acid on her. Although the dowry system is illegal, people continue to do it. According to Neville Lazaraus, producer of "Sky News", One women dies because of dowry deaths each hour. According to Dean Nelson of "The Telegraph(UK)" of the 32% of the families charged with dowry deaths, only about 15% of them are convicted of a crime. If the woman does live, it is not uncommon for the wife to leave the husband and move in with relatives. Women’s rights in India are still a little iffy, so legal wise, not very much happens
As you can see from this video, rather than the police helping this women, they did not assist her, and would not support her.
Why does the dowry system continue to be a problem in India?
According to Priya Virmani of "The Gurdian", the number of dowry deaths have increased because of India’s increasing economy, which made the people have an increase in salary. An increase in salary typically makes people more greedy. The dowry system is in all classes and caste systems, but the wealthier the husbands family is, the higher the demands will be.
As you can see from the pictures above, as the economy of India grows, so does the number of reported dowry deaths.
The effects of the dowry system on India as a whole.
In order to get money for dowry, The parents can either save, or take out a loan. 80% of loans in India are taken out for dowry. If the mother leaves the husband, she will take the children with her. Parents are aborting their daughters so that they do not have to save up money for their son-in-laws family. This leaves a distorted sex ratio in India which is 933 girls: 1000 boys. A lot of the husbands side with the family, and will harass the wife and will beat her.
Why i picked dowry deaths
I decided to do my project on dowry deaths for a few reasons. First, not a lot of people know about this problem in india, so i thought it would be educational for anybody that were to end up on my page. Second, I personally thought it was interesting that even though the dowry system is illegal, people are still willing to extort their in-laws. I also thought it was interesting that families are willing to burn their daughter in-law alive, just because her parents were not on time with payments.
how this relates to Human Goegraphy
I think this topic mostly relates to our culture chapter. This topic shows how diffrent our western culture is from eastern culture. If somebody in our counrty were to burn their daughter-in-law alive, because of some sort of dowry system, then the news would be all over it, and it would be the main conversation in every household. Yet when something like this happens in the middle east, half of the American population has never heard of it, and would probably expect this type of thing to happen in a country like India.
Citations
Nelson,Dean. "Woman Killed over Dowry 'every Hour' in India." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 02 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 May 2014.
Lazarus, Neville. "India: Shock Dowry Deaths Increase Revealed." Sky News. Sky News, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.
Virmani, Priya. "Dowry Deaths Are the Hidden Curse of the Big Fat Indian Wedding." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 23 May 2012. Web. 26 May 2014.
Singh, Vijaita. "Only 18% Dowry Death Cases End in Conviction: Data." - Indian Express. The Indian Express, 01 May 2012. Web. 29 May 2014.
Pictures
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=276932:all-about-money-not-love-hubby--parents-set-pregnant-wife-on-fire-in-dowry-demand&Itemid=4#axzz339rNS3cJ
http://www.indiaspend.com/investigations/india-where-a-woman-is-killed-every-hour-for-dowry-68340
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/sec006group4/case_study__india_versus_united_states
video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSRvegy08hY
Nelson,Dean. "Woman Killed over Dowry 'every Hour' in India." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 02 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 May 2014.
Lazarus, Neville. "India: Shock Dowry Deaths Increase Revealed." Sky News. Sky News, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.
Virmani, Priya. "Dowry Deaths Are the Hidden Curse of the Big Fat Indian Wedding." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 23 May 2012. Web. 26 May 2014.
Singh, Vijaita. "Only 18% Dowry Death Cases End in Conviction: Data." - Indian Express. The Indian Express, 01 May 2012. Web. 29 May 2014.
Pictures
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=276932:all-about-money-not-love-hubby--parents-set-pregnant-wife-on-fire-in-dowry-demand&Itemid=4#axzz339rNS3cJ
http://www.indiaspend.com/investigations/india-where-a-woman-is-killed-every-hour-for-dowry-68340
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/sec006group4/case_study__india_versus_united_states
video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSRvegy08hY