Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has continued his crusade on the practice of dowry by asking vice-chancellors to demand a bond from students seeking admission to universities.
Talking to media persons after a meeting with the vice-chancellors, the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of Kerala Universities said that the bond must be insisted not only upon admission but even during graduation.
"Even the parents must be asked to sign a bond during the admission process," the Governor said on Friday. He also asked the vice-chancellors to adopt the same policy while filling up vacancies in the state's universities.
The Governor's reaction comes two days after he had made a surprise call to join a fast organised by Gandhian organisations against the practice of dowry. On the eve of his fast, Governor Khan had released a video message on his Twitter handle '@KeralaGovernor', in which he revisited the "tragic death due to dowry" that was recently in news "in our beloved state of Kerala". The Governor had said that the spectre of dowry continues to raise its ugly head in the state, "which is globally acclaimed for enviable social indicators like literacy and life expectancy".
Earlier this month, the Kerala High Court had issued a notice to the state government seeking the strict implementation of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The court was responding to a petition filed in the wake of recent dowry deaths in the state, including that of a 22-year-old woman Vismaya, who was found dead at her husband's house days after sharing the details of the assault she faced there.
