The impacts of dowry in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is an development country. In this country there are many kinds of unpleasant customs. Dowry is the most common unpleasant custom of those. It creates many problems. It is against the success of our country. It is a much unexpected situation for the bride’s family members. They are to collect a huge amount of money for their daughter’s or sister’s marriage. Sometime they are to take loan, sell their lands, furniture, ornaments and even their own house to collect the money. They are to lose many things and face many problems for this dowry system.

Causes of Dowry

Poverty is the main causes behind dowry because most of the people in Bangladeshi are poor. They often take dowry to reduce their Poverty. Because of the Illiteracy, most the people are unaware of effect of dowry .Narrow mentality behind the dowry system. Negative attitude towards the women Lack of women’s Education in Families is the reason for giving dowry. Lack of decision making power of women’s in family because in Bangladesh families are ruled by father .Because of that the position of woman in a family is much disagreed. Women are less independent then men .In

Bangladesh; most of the women are housewives and have less economic power to control the family. Because of dependency women

become a burden in a family. Some time bridegroom wants money to do business or want to make his life settle with that money. In a town, people think that giving dowry in a marriage creating more status in society. Women spend a good life in husband’s house if dowry paid in marriage. In a village, most of the people think Dowry is their legal right which has to pay the daughter’s family in a marriage. In a village, Poor parents consider any expenses for educating a girl unproductive as she leaves their family after marriage. In the village if brides are not beautiful to look at or if they get late married then they are to give a lot of money as dowry to the bridegroom. The giving of a dower seems to be an established Bangladeshi cultural institution. The wife is expected to bring suitable gifts {monetary or otherwise} with her to her new home or shoshurbari. Dependence on husband and living on their income, social corruption and so on are the main .

Dowry in Islamic marriages

In the Islamic marriage, the bride may bring jihaz {dowry} to the house. Contrary to the popular view that Islamic mahr is a dowry; it is not. Because the mahr is mandated by the Quran and is part or the Islamic Sharia the dowry is optional. Jihaz {dowry} or trousseau is the amount of clothes, household linen, furniture and other belongings contributed by the bride and/or her family to the marriage. It has to be distinguished from the mahr, which is an agreement between the wali {guardian} of the bride and her future husband by which the groom pays certain sum of money or its equivalent to the bride at the signing of the marriage agreement. The mahr is an obligation on the groom stipulated by the Quran to be given to the future wife, while the jihaz is not an obligation on the part of the bride or her family.

The Jihaz is not the nafaqa {support} either, because nafaqa is the material support given by the husband to his wife as soon as the marriage is consummated. The nafaqa covers clothing, food and shelter of the wife. There is no obligation in the Islamic Sharia to fulfill the jihaz, however, in most cases; brides bring such jihaz to their houses once they get married. There is no provision in Islamic Sharia that forbids the exercise of women’s right to contribute jihaz to their marriages. In fact, under Islamic law, married women have legal rights to share in family estate. They may own properties, or be named as beneficiaries of religious waqf {endowment} assets.

Effect of Dowry in economy and Daughter’s family

More than 35 million people in Bangladesh, around a quarter of its population, face acute poverty and hunger. Dowry payments of more than 200 times the daily wage and costly medical expenses are major causes of this chronic poverty says research from the University of Bath. It is the poor who really suffer economically and socially as a result of the practice of dowry. The custom of paying a dowry to the future husband's family when a daughter is married is illegal in Bangladesh, but is still practiced by most families living in rural areas. Payment is normally upwards from 20,000 Taka {around Â£190} and since typical earnings are only 100 Taka {94 pence} per day, this can be a major contributor to poverty for many families with daughters.

The trend of rising dowries, commonly referred to as dowry inflation has received much attention, as payments can represent multiple years' worth of a family's income and often cause

severe destitution of households with daughters of marriageable age.

Through this custom the bride has to give a large amount of money, furniture, ornaments and many things to the bridegroom. It is a very terrible situation for the society. Women & their family suffer a lot for this dowry system.

The money of dowry is often raised by the sale or mortgaging of land at low prices. It also includes livestock, trees, household goods and family jewelry and as well as loans from NGOs and moneylenders at high rates of interest .

Effect of Dowry in women’s life

Have you ever thought to see your lovely daughter’s dead body in front of your eyes? Have you been beaten by your husband or mother-in-law when you have a further dream to lead a peaceful life after your marriage? Have you ever had in mind that you could be a victim of dowry? There are so many questions that rise in our mind when we see the dreadful picture of dowry in our society. What is dowry? As a definition, it could be said that dowry means gifts or payment by a bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. At the time of marriage, the parents of a daughter have a desire to get a gentle and polite son-in-law. Due to their wrong concept, they think that after marriage their daughter will have a better life. Are their expectations come in true? In some cases it is yes, but most of the time many girls become the victims of dowry. A groom’s family forces a bride’s family to fulfill their demands before and after the marriage. When the bride’s family is unable to give dowry, the bride has to face many problems and sufferings. When women are in trouble some people think it is a usual matter. Society always tries to ignore this reality. Therefore, the cruel practice of dowry has had a negative impact in women’s life, family and country’s development.

Recently, one of my close friends told me a story about her aunty, who had faced a tragic death. She was killed by her husband and mother-in law after three months of her marriage, but some people think that it was the fate of that woman. My friend told me that her aunty got married at an early age. The parents of the groom’s family were not satisfied with the dowry which brought sufferings for her to death. This is just only a simple example which symbolizes how the dowry system makes women’s life miserable. It is really a shame for Bangladesh that this system is ubiquitous here. Every year thousands of women become the victims of dowry. According to the statement by ALRC, a Human Rights Organization in Bangladesh, “In 2004, 267 women including one child were victimized due to dowry-related matters. Among them, 165 were killed, 77 tortured by acid violence and one were divorced and 11 committed suicide due to incessant dowry demands" {“Dowry: A social evil” n. page}. According to Hafeeza, who was beaten by her husband after two or three days of her marriage,” He became angry and started to beat me. He dragged me from my hair on the road.” As her family was unable to fulfill the demands of her husband, he forced her to work in a factory. As she was helping in earnings according to her husband’s order, he kept beating her for more money while she was pregnant. She again said, “Once my father-in-law became sick. I was three months pregnant. My husband said he needed money to treat his father, asked me to go home and bring my unpaid dowry.” “My family couldn’t get any money to give him, so he beat me, again and again. He said he doesn’t want the child.” “I was sick, I couldn’t go to work. In the garment factory, if we sit down somewhere to rest a little bit, they slap us, and don’t give us money. Then I left my job. My husband became so angry.” He said, “Why did you leave the job without my permission? I don’t want that child, I want money. Eat this medicine and let the child die, so you can go to work again,” Hafeeza cried out {“A Wife’s Darkest Hour: Dowry Violence in Bangladesh”}.

This is the usual situation that is happening in our society. According to recent reports, in the first half of 2009, 119 cases of dowry-related domestic violence were reported, 78 of which resulted in death. Ain O Salish Kendo, a prominent human rights group in Bangladesh, published that 172 and 187 women died due to dowry-related domestic violence in 2007 and 2008 {“A wife’s darkest hour: Dowry violence in Bangladesh” n. page}. Those are some statistics and examples that represent how many women become sufferer because of dowry system. It degrades the position of women in society as well as the country’s reputation.