Introduction:
Dowry is transfer of parental property to daughter at her marriage. Dowry
establishes the type of conjugal fund the nature of which may vary widely. This
fun may provide the financial security in widowhood against a careless husband,
and may eventually go to provide for her children.
Dowry contrasts with related concepts of bride price and dower. While the bride
price or bride service is payment of groom or his family to bride’s parents.
This trend has now become status symbol of parents. This status symbol puts
astringent impacts on finance. Most of parents has bankrupt due to dowry. There
are many cases in which most daughters remain unmarried due to financial
problems. This is basically malediction or curse which forces the people to
provide it at any cost otherwise their daughter could face many problems in laws
and disgrace in her family. This trend flourished by Indian culture and then
popular in neighboring counties especially in Pakistan. In the modern educated
class, dowry has become a demand of bridegroom and they are demanding such as
heavy dowry that it has become impossible for the parents to give their
daughters in marriage. Indeed, many accomplished girls are rotting unmarried
only because their parents are unable to meet the heavy demand of the
bridegrooms. An educated man of the middle income-group is found to be
demanding, among other things, thousands of rupees as passage money, majestic
motor-cycle, double chained, wrist watch of all pure gold, color TV,
refrigerator, civic homestead and the cost of taking foreign education. In a
neighboring State, the problem of dowry has become so acute that the parents are
encouraging their daughters to woo the young men and to marry them by
registration. In Orissa, too parents will follow the same example if the present
situation does not improve for them. The dowry system is so deeply rooted in
Pakistani and Indian Culture, that sometimes one feels that there's going to be
no way out - at least not for another century. Even modern, well-educated
families start saving up money for their daughter's dowry as soon as she is
born. When demands for dowry are not met, the bride is subject to torture, and
often even killed. The reason many parents don't want to have daughters is
because of the dowry they will have to shell out at her marriage, and the stress
they go through due to never ending demands from her in-laws. Dowry is an evil,
evil system and all of us, at some level, condone it and even contribute to it.
Literature Review:
Dowry is a social ill, and although some issues find it affordable, at times
they too feel bad at how the groom’s family free-rides at their expense.
However, for the lower classes, dowry is nothing short of a nightmare. While
women are generally ill-treated in our society, there are times when some
families are ‘relieved’ of the burden of dowry when philanthropists come to
their rescue by giving dowry. Unfortunately no one ever comes forward to end
this unfair social act which causes numbers of ‘deaths’ in the region every
year.(Muhammad Ayyan.2014). Giving of bride’s dowry is a common practice in many
parts of the world, especially in South Asia, in countries such as India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. An unusual exception to the dowry
custom in South Asia is found in Bhutan. The dowry system does not exist in
Bhutan; inheritance is matrilineal, and daughters do not take their father's
name at birth or their husband's name upon marriage. Rural land may be
registered in a woman’s name. The Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act, 1976
is one such Act that desperately await the attention of lawmakers in
Pakistan.(The Nation,2013 )Dowry for weddings is a serious issue for poor
families in the subcontinent and many women are unable to marry because their
relatives cannot afford the gifts and money demanded by grooms’ families. In
Pakistan, the usual age for a woman to get married is between 18 and 28 and
anyone older faces difficulties finding a match. Unmarried older women face
scorn from neighbors and relatives and – with no husband to support them
financially – poverty and destitution.(Article by The Express Tribune,2013)Dowry
for weddings is a serious issue for poor families in the subcontinent and many
women are unable to marry because their relatives cannot afford the gifts and
money demanded by grooms’ families. In Pakistan, the usual age for a woman to
get married is between 18 and 28 and anyone older faces difficulties finding a
match. Unmarried older women face scorn from neighbors and relatives and – with
no husband to support them financially – poverty and destitution. The dowry
system has given birth too many evils. Many parents invite huge debts in order
to give dowries to their daughters. They work hard during the rest of their
lives today off the debts. Others do not hesitate to earn money unfair means to
meet the demand of dowry. The devil of dowry has put an end to the happiness of
many couples even after marriage. Many young married girls commit suicide when
they find their domestic embittered by the daily taunts of their mothers-in-law.
That is not all. There are other evils too. The social evil of dowry system
attracted the attention of the government in the current past. Dowry was
restricted to a limited amount. Number of guests was also restricted and they
were to be served with cold drinks only. But it received no support of the
people the administration also did not take it up very seriously. The dowry
system has been eating into the vitals of the society.(Marryam Butt,2013) In
recent years, there has been an increase in the value of dowries in Pakistan.
Many people in Pakistan are illiterate, and many do not want to be educated. The
literacy rate in Pakistan is about 60%. A lack of education facilitates the
continuation of giving a dowry. Many Pakistanis become greedy when they think
about what a dowry can provide them. A Dowry is a very bad thing and should be
banned in all countries.(Fazain.2012) Dowry is usually a promise to give the
money and wealth to the guy and his parents. Later if the girl's parents cannot
afford to give those things, the treatment of their daughter at the guys home
can get quite bad. She may get harassed everyday because her parents were not
able to give enough dowry.(Upasana200,2010)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:-
Research statement:-
Our research statement is about dowry system... the research is based on how
much people suffering from the dowry system in the present and how much favour
this system.
Research tool
The type of this methodology is quantitative and the reason of choosing
quantitative is because it refers to the systematic empirical investigation of
quantitative properties and their relationships, meaning the problem already
exist in survey. The tool to answer the research question is questionnaire.
Survey on Dowry System
Questionnaire Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Q: 1. Dowry system exists in Pakistan. 50=100 0 0 0
Q: 2. We should favor to dowry. 5=10 0 0 45=90
Q: 3. Dowry is a status symbol. 22=44 24=48 2=4 2=4
Q: 4. Dowry is demand of daughter. 25=50 5=10 6=12 14=28
Q: 5. Dowry is demand of laws (susral) 40=80 0 0 10=20
Q: 6. Dowry is bad thing and it should be banned. 35=70 7=14 5=10 3=6
Q: 7. Dowry is the reason of domestic violence. 20=40 15=30 5=10 10=20
Q: 8. Dowry is curse. 5=50 15=30 5=10 5=10
Q: 9. Islam is emphasizes on dowry system. 40=80 10=20 0 0
Q: 10. The daughter is liable to enhance after having dowry. 5=10 7=14 15=30
23=46
Q: 11. Dowry should be provided to daughter. 10=20 20=40 10=20 10=20
Q: 12. Dowry system leads the girl to earn from unethical ways. 8=16 10=20 20=40
22=44
Q: 13. Pakistani women themselves responsible for dowry practice. 15=30 20=40
10=20 5=10
Q: 14. Educated people prefer dowry system due to custom in society. 10=20 20=40
15=20 5=10
Q: 15. Our youth should stand against the dowry system. 20=40 25=50 3=6 2=4
Analysis:
SPSS ( statistical package of social since ) program will be used in this study
to order to know the appropriate way to analysis the result of the questionnaire
and there's two ways to approach that, the first is descriptive statistics and
the second is frequency and percentage. T-test will be used to answer the
research question through SPSS descriptive statistic will be conduct including
the major of frequency and probability the major of center tendency contain :
mean , mode , median, variance, slandered deviation
100% students know about dowry system. 90% student strongly disagreed about this
system. It shows that all young students want to save society from dowry system
and its negative consequences. Only 10% students in the favour of dowry.
Conclusion
It is concluded that dowry is an immorality in the society which must be banned
in the country. It leads toward promoting many conflicts, quarrels and greed in
the civilization. Consequences of this research show that people of Pakistan are
well aware of dowry system and its evil abuses. Both love and arrange marriage
and both educated and illiterate people are practicing dowry system in the
society of Pakistan. Nevertheless, people are not in the favor of this system.
Moreover, girls become mentally affected and parents lose their self-respect
under the burden of dowry. The foremost reason for exercising dowry is greed.
Middle class is one the most involved class in youth and government both should
dowry system as compared to lower and middle class. In addition, to control this
system should take steps.