Believe it or not, literate Kerala reports around 20 dowry deaths every year. According to State Crime Records Bureau, 203 dowry death cases were filed in the state in the past 11 years. However, only four such incidents were reported till September this year whereas the figure was 16 last year.
For a state which flaunts its achievements in education and social justice, these figures are shocking. Kerala may not be discussing dowry in public, but the social evil is a reality in the state.
The Women and Child Development Department of Kerala, which is observing this year's anti-dowry day today (November 26), is on a mission to eradicate dowry in the next five years. This mission will have its focus on bringing in a change in the attitude of youth as the department perceives this to be the best way forward.
"We have laws that make giving or accepting dowry a punishable act. However, more than that we need a change in the attitude of the people, especially youngsters, to implement these laws," Bindu Gopinath, assistant director of the department, told Onmanorama.
"We have to make awareness among girls to think that they would not allow their parents to incur huge debts for their marriage. Similarly, young men also should think that they would not live on the fruits of another person's efforts," she said.
As a first step of this youth-oriented campaign, the department has conducted a meme contest on social media in association with popular Facebook page International Chalu Union (ICU). The campaign was a big hit with hundreds of people posting trolls and memes with #stopdowry. The posts had registered a reach of 4.3 million as on November 23, according to a Facebook post of Malayalam film actor Tovino Thomas, who is the brand ambassador of the campaign.
Dowry gone, gifts in
Several memes posted as part of the campaign try to expose people's hypocrisy when it comes to dowry. They made fun of the new trend of the prospective bridegrooms' families saying they don't need any dowry but would be happy with whatever the girls' families gift them.
However, the incidents of groom's family bargaining for dowry are still heard across the state. In several cases, the girls' families are forced to sell off or pledge their properties to find the amount demanded by the grooms' families.
Ravi and Pradeep (names changed), two daily-wagers in Manimala in Kottayam district, had to pledge their properties to avail a loan to marry their girls off. Ravi also had to sell a portion of his land. The dowry sought by his son-in-law included Rs 70,000 exclusively for the expenses of the marriage. In Pradeep's case, the family of the groom, a government employee, wanted at least 10 sovereigns of gold and Rs 2 lakh. Finally they agreed to cut down the amount to Rs 1 lakh. These amounts are meagre compared to the gifts, including luxury cars, sought by those in the higher income groups.
Legal issue
According to the Kerala Dowry Prohibition Act 1992, giving and accepting dowry is a crime. "Those giving dowry would never complain about it fearing they would also be punished. This is a hindrance in implementing the law. Hence, we are trying to seek an amendment in the law so as to empower more people to come out and register complaints," an official in the women and child development department said.
