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UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK

Assignment topic: -Curses of Dowry System

Course No: -

Submitted by; Saina Hussain

Submitted to: madam jugnu salauddin

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Contents

Topics Page #

Definitions of dowry 3

Curses of dowry in Islam 4

Curse of Dowry in Pakistan 5

Causes of dowry system 9

Affects of Dowry On society 11

Control of dowry system 13

References 15

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Definitions of dowry

Money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage

Property or payment given by a wife or her family to a husband at the time of marriage. (In some cultures, it is the husband who pays the dowry to the wife’s family.)

A present given to a new husband by the bride upon marriage. It took the form of land, goods, or money.

The marriage wealth-exchange practice in which the woman's family is required to provide the husband with property (eg, money, land, household goods) in order to make the marriage.

An old-fashioned term meaning money or goods that the bride or the bride’s family gives to her new husband

property, Property or payment brought by a wife or her family to a husband at the time of marriage. (In some cultures, it is the husband who pays the dowry to the wife’s family

A dowry is a gift of money or valuables given by the bride's family to that of the groom to permit their marriage. In societies where payment of dowry is common, unmarried women are seen to attract stigma and tarnish the household's reputation, so it is in the bride's family's interest to marry off their daughter as soon as she is eligible. In some areas where this is practiced, the size of the necessary dowry is directly proportional to the groom's social standing, thus making it virtually impossible for lower class women to marry into upper class families. In some cases where a woman's family is too poor to afford any dowry whatsoever, she is either simply forbidden from ever marrying, or at most becomes a concubine to a richer man who can afford to support a large household

A dowry (also known as trousseau or tocher or, in Latin, dos) is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.[1] It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both dowry and bride price. Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it.

The practice of dowry is prevalent in India since ancient times. The custom first started in Vaishya community of Hindu society but later all other communities in the Hindu society adopted this practice. Subsequently, this practice crept into the Muslim society in places where

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Muslims lived as traders and not as rulers.This Hindu custom has now gripped the Muslim society as well. This practice has affected the whole society, especially the poor, backward and middle classes whose economic and financial resources are limited. Many girls remain unmarried because of the financial problems of their parents. Some of such girls take recourse to suicide and a few of them enter flesh trade and some die as virgins.

The evil practice of dowry has turned the sacred relationship of marriage into a commercial relationship which makes the life of chaste girls and their parents a hell, giving rise to suicide, corruption and moral degradation. The problem of dowry is closely linked to Muslims’ economic, social, educational and religious life.

One of the reasons of these social evils is ignorance and non-compliance with Islamic teachings and practices. Hundreds and thousands of educated Muslim girls are leading unmarried lives or believe in late marriages. Does it not indicate moral degradation of our society? In a society where this is the case with unmarried girls, who will bother about the marriage of widows and divorcees? The Prophet (p.b.u.h) and his companions set examples for their followers by marrying widows and divorcees. Young Muslim girls have to lead unmarried life because of financial difficulties of their parents or because of the non-availability of suitable matches. Their unmarried status creates new problems for them and the society. 

Our younger generation should come forward to rectify this trend and reform the society. They should set an example by neither demanding nor offering dowry. Those who demand dowry should be persuaded by explaining to them religious and Quranic commands. If they still persist in their evil demands, they should be socially boycotted and the matter reported to the police. Demanding dowry is a legal offence also. Anti-dowry committees should be set up. This will bring positive results for the unmarried daughters of the poor. 

These steps are in accordance with the commands of God and His Prophet. These will create a good society free of evil. Unless the younger generations volunteer for such noble tasks, no reformatory projects can succeed

Curses of dowry in Islam:

If I don’t kill her today; tomorrow she will kill me financially or someone. else will burn her for the sake of dowry,"

rationalizes the would be father of an unborn female child, at the time of deciding a premature end for her. Such is the evil of dowry, rampantly prevailing in Indian society. A study has revealed that an estimated one million (1,000,000 ) female foetuses are being destroyed every

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year in India alone where, even today the birth of a female child is viewed as a curse. As soon as a daughter is born, the family in general and the father in particular starts calculating the huge financial burden that lies ahead of him. Whereas a Muslim father seizes, the same opportunity with both his hands as his Prophet (p.b.u.h) has promised him heaven or paradise for bringing up his daughter the way he takes care of his male child.

A Muslim father does not have to bother for dowry, as there is nothing called ‘Dowry’ in Islam. On the contrary, Islam enjoins the groom to give a ‘Bridal-Gift’ or ‘Dower’ as a token of love and assurance to his would be wife at the time of marriage. In fact without payment of this sum, the marriage cannot get solemnized. The Holy Qur’an instructs the believers

"And give the women (whom you marry) their dower (obligatory bridal gift) happily" (4:4)

The practice of dowry among ignorant Muslims is a result of the influence of the evil practices of the society they live in. Islam does not put any financial burden on the father of the girl. A Muslim father is told to get her daughter married away in a most simple ‘Nikah’ ceremony solemnized by a ‘Qazi’ (priest) in a mosque, witnessed by his close relatives and friends. He is not even required to throw a luncheon to the handful of invitees assembled for this occasion. In fact it is desirable on the part of the groom that he offers a reception (Waleema) to his near ones & dear ones without forgetting the poor people of his society.

The example of such a simple marriage was set up by none other than the Prophet (p.b.u.h) himself. He got his daughters married in the simplest possible manner. There was nothing in it whatsoever for the bridegroom that could be termed as dowry. The Prophet (pbuh) said:

"The best of the marriages is one which is least burdensome in the financial sense to the families of the bride and the groom"

Thus he paved a way for people of all times to come to live a life without stress and strain pertaining to daughters’ marriages too!

Curse of Dowry in Pakistan:

Pakistan The land of the pure is characterized by regrettably low scores of development indicators, constant political instability, cultural heritage and traditions reflecting centuries old patriarchy and selective male-friendly application of the dominant religion-Islam. For being part of the male-dominated belt, the family in Pakistan is patriarchal. Traditionally, father is the breadwinner and mother is the housekeeper. The disreputable mother-in-law is an advocate of superiority of her son in marriage. However, this cannot be generalized. In fact, there is not a homogenous Pakistan in this respect. There is an urban Pakistan and a rural Pakistan. There is a Pakistan of masses and there is a Pakistan of classes. Considering the diversity of Pakistani

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society, female plight and predicament has different interpretations for women from different strata. They do suffer similarly in different ways. Institutional and individual violence are not unknown phenomena for all Pakistani women.

Like all others, Pakistani society is governed by cultural institutions, beliefs, norms and practices. The contemporary culture, inspite of undergoing transition, mirrors images of centuries old civilizations and indigenous cultures. One such cultural heritage which has been adopted as a cultural institution is Dowry or JAHEZ. This practice makes a girl-child less welcome than a male child. Even today, a girl is perceived to be a burden and a boy to be a blessing. No wonder there are 79 million missing women only in South Asia and Pakistan, is one of those very few countries where male to female ratio is reverse.

Dowry: Crime or Custom?

What is dowry? Encyclopedias, thesaurus and dictionaries have explained it beautifully and simplistically. To me it is a form of culturally sanctioned and socially acceptable violence not only against women but men too. Despite relatively uninformed and unprepared acceptance of globalization as a way of life, it appears rather strange that the institution of marriage is still intact in Pakistan. Marriage is an important event in the life of a Pakistani woman. Getting married early is being lucky.

Obligatory Jahez takes a heavy toll on the family of dulhan - the bride. Dowry is a multi-faceted deep-rooted gender issue with social, economic and health consequences. In spite of a consensus on disliking the practice, only a few have the courage to disown it. According to renowned Indian writer Shri Sharma the “evolution” of dowry is originally from a gift creating expectation leading to demands and greed. A large dowry can be an important attribute of status to both men and women. Dowry, which is popularly considered as a Hindu custom, has visibly migrated, escalated and embraced in all the areas of the present day Pakistan. It has become an active tradition, norm and religious practice for those who believe that there is an absence of such custom and tradition in their faith. The implication of this convenient forgetfulness is inattentiveness to dowry-related violence.

There are certain other factors that ensure the continuity of the practice of Dowry such as:

It is considered an incentive to lure a more suitable match It is submission to the demand of a perceived suitable match

It is used as an excuse for denial of inheritance to women (the expenses on dowry and wedding are unilaterally decided by the men folk of the family as transfer of inheritance by other means)

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It is considered a good support mechanism to help the new couple so that they have a convenient start in practical life

It has become a socially forced fait accompli that is followed and executed ‘with a smile’ notwithstanding, how painful it could be to the family.

Estimates of the percentage of women who experience domestic violence in Pakistan range from 70-90%. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the extreme form it took included driving a woman to suicide or engineering an accident through infamous “Stove burning” usually when the husband, often in collaboration with his side of the family, felt (or made to believe) that the dowry or other gifts he had expected from his in-laws were not forthcoming or/and he wanted to marry again or he expected an inheritance from the death of his wife. During 1997, the Lahore press reported an average of more than four local cases of women being burnt weekly, three of the four fatally. Police follow -up to these cases was negligible, with only six suspects taken into custody out of 215 cases reported in Lahore newspapers during the year. In 1997, there was not a single conviction in a “stove-death” case in the country.

HRCP reported only one case of dowry-related violence in 2001.In that case the victim was burnt to death by her in-laws for not bringing sufficient dowry. A research study conducted by sachet( an CSO)on gender-based violence as reported in the print media also confirmed this statistic.Does this mean that in reality also, only one woman fell victim to dowry death? I sent one of our research officers to find some clues. Here is her back-to-office report.

“I met Ms.Naheeda Mahboob Illahi, advocate Supreme court on 9th Jan`2002. According to her, everyday a large number of cases of dowry-related violence are received but are mostly registered as Domestic Disputes. The details of only three cases of dowry-related violence were provided-2 cases in the year 2000 and one in 1997. In all these cases the victims were tortured mentally and physically by their husbands and in-laws, for not bringing sufficient dowry with them.”

It remains a mystery for the social science researchers that why stoves burst in susrals only and why the victim is always a bahu? Ironically, in spite of very high frequency of domestic violence and frequent cases of stove deaths, dowry-related violence is neither perceived nor recognized as an accepted form of violence nor documented in social science literature. Therefore, unfortunately it is not a popular theme or priority agenda item for organizations working on women issues. There could be three possible reasons for this convenient forgetfulness. One is the spiral of silence and sharam, which implies that woman, related issues must not be taken out of the premises of home for the sake of honor. Second is the ironical fact that attention to the role of dowry in our marriage system has not gained deserved attention of international donors. Therefore, the hype stirred by comparable social problems like child labor or environment overshadowed a traditional area like dowry and related issues. Thirdly, the Ministry of women development in Pakistan has yet to acknowledge dowry and dowry-violence as gender issues.

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Interventions in the Public Sector

Pakistan is a signatory to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Beijing plan of Action and Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In terms of implementation, the ideals of all such treaties are yet to be realized to cast an impact. Empowerment, access to equal rights and emancipation are yet only distant dreams for a vast majority of women.

However, there are a number of efforts now underway in Pakistan to promote the empowerment of women, such as attempts to refine the National Plan of Action, develop micro credit plans and enhance Khushhali (prosperity) bank, implement UN-Conventions and develop positive and productive partnerships with civil society, the CSOs and the private sector.

Personally, I am convinced that there is growing attention being given by the government to gender issues including violence, and there is some movement in this direction. But there is no obvious, focused and concentrated effort geared to the understanding of a complex and common issue like dowry. This is valid for all service delivery, advocacy, research and communication interventions.

Interventions in PAKISTAN

Efforts made by mushrooming CSO sector in connection with dowry can be summed up as Disappointing.

There had been localized and limited efforts by small-scale welfare societies in the 1960s and 1970s aiming at awareness rising and motivation campaigns to convince people at the mohalla level to resist the mindless following of dowry demands. However, with the advent of international donors in the 1980s, the CSOs in Pakistan have either undertook campaigns against other more visibly anti-women oppressive mechanisms like hudood ordinance or political marginalization under the Zia regime. Later too, the CSOs have taken up issues of expressed violence thus being symptomatic and not delving into the deep rooted causes of violence against women, dowry being one primary cause.

Taking notice of the visible exclusion of dowry as a gender issue from the agenda and aims of development CSOs and self-acclaimed gender experts, I initiated fight against dowry (fad) through the platform of SACHET, which I co founded nearly five years back. FAD has been shaped into a project in Jan`02.The main objective of this project, rather a movement is to Eradicate (institution and practice of) Dowry in Pakistan. The key strategies to achieve this aim are research and communication. The activity spectrum ranges from surveys, signature campaigns, e-petitions, youth-parent consultations, legal advice, and amendments in the existing law, lobbying, TV programs to anything possible under the sun.

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The Government of Mr. Nawaz Sharif in mid-1990s had introduced an ordinance banning grand wedding receptions (an implicit upshot of dowry). However, it was enforced for short time only, but is now losing its spirit. Right now, commission of Law and Justice, has drafted a new law in connection with wedding expenses and dowry. The consultation on the draft version is in progress.

Challenges not Conclusions

Such write-ups usually conclude by drawing conclusions and making suggestions. I am concluding by identifying some of the challenges connected with the gruesome practice, of dowry and the accompanying violence.

How dowry could be made a high priority agenda to create a critical mass to combat this institutional violence?

Are we ready to adopt this extremely critical gender issue as a passion?

Is our mass media mature enough to advocate and sensitize all stakeholders?

Do we have any political commitment in this regard and how far our governments are ready to go in this respect?

Causes of dowry system;

We are all familiar with the story : boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl gets married. For the majority of the western world, this is our ideal of a great beginning to a perfect marriage. It is important to realize that while India is very modernized in some aspects (i.e.. they lead the world in student's math and science scores and produce the largest amount of engineers in the world) they still keep to the tradition of arranged marriages. Marriages formed out of love AKA "love marriages" do happen in India but it is not the norm. It is an accepted fact that a person's family will play a role in picking the marriage partner.

While to many people raised in the west, this might sound odd. It is important to remember that in Indian society an arranged marriage is seen as an act of love. Since marriage is one of the most important decisions a person will ever make and because divorce is not accepted among most Indians, it is imperative that the marriage choice is carefully thought out and planned. How can a young person make such an important decision on his/her own? Instead, the family (usually the parents) look for certain traits in a marriage partner. Some desirable traits looked for in both male and female are: matching levels of education, matching cultures, close parental cities, matching religions, and matching vegetarians/non-vegetarians just to name a few.

Potential bride-grooms come under close scrutiny for several areas of the matching process. Do they have enough means to support the bride? Do they appear to be men who will make good husbands and fathers? Often, the bride will live with her in-laws after marriage in what is called a joint family. Because of this, the groom's family is also brought under close scrutiny. Do the

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women of the household seem well cared for? Do they have a big enough house for another person and grandchildren? Does the family have a good reputation?

Potential brides also come under scrutiny by the boy's parents. Since it is a commonly held belief that brides are the embodiment of that family's honor and pride, the girl must be from good family and have good manners. She should be respectable and have no taint on her name. Does she have the makings of a good wife and mother? Does she want to work after marriage or stay at home? There are so many factors to weigh, that I cannot list them all.

Often, this turns into an interview process where photos are provided of the boy/girl in question along with bio-data about his/her life and family. If that meets with approval, arrangements will be made for the parents to meet the boy/girl and their family. Traditionally, however, the bride and groom would not even see each other until the day of their wedding. Today, while most marriages are still arranged, times are changing. There is usually a small courtship period where the bride and groom can meet and talk under the careful watch of a guardian. Also, if either one of the two do not want the marriage, it is likely to be cancelled. Very little family’s today "force" marriages upon their children.

Of course, with any society, you have those people who just will not adapt and change. There are places in India where time has not moved forward. For those people, they carry on their lives as their parents have and their grandparents before them. Shockingly, there are still some forced marriages and child brides.

Which brings me to the issue of the dowry system....yes, folks it still exists. Now before you make that grimace of distaste, let me tell you a little about it. The dowry system has been in place since before the written record and it has been used by parents in every country imaginable, including America in older times. The point of the dowry system was to provide for the bride should something unfortunate occur with her husband such as death or divorce. As you can probably imagine, daughters can be extremely expensive offspring. Parents had/have to make a mad scramble to get enough wealth and material goods together to see their daughter well taken care of by the time she is of marriageable age. In Northern India, today this age can vary from 18-25 though exceptions do apply depending on socio-economic factors.

As you can see, the dowry system was something originally honorable in intention and provided for the independent wealth of the bride in a time when she was unlikely to work outside of the home. Like many customs and traditions, time can alter their original meaning and purpose. While the dowry system is still in place, it has become more of a "bride-price" system. The parents of a baby girl must come up with a respectable dowry (the term respectable is arbitrary, respectable dowry can be anything from $50 worth of material goods to $50,000 or more worth of material goods depending on the family's standing in society). If a good dowry is not made, the girl is unlikely to have a "good" match. This again, is mostly arbitrary. A good match for a very poor family might be marriage of their daughter into a slightly better financed family or a good match for a middle income family might be finding a husband that is a doctor or engineer. As you have probably guessed, there are very few brides who actually retain their dowry after marriage. In the most honorable of families the bride is allowed to keep certain items for her own

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use such as the bed and cooking pots she is suppose to bring with her and some of the jewelry. She is also allowed control over how the rest of the dowry is kept, spent etc. This situation is a very modern one and in place in very educated households.

The most common form of use of the dowry is not meant to be dishonorable and is far more practical for many families. More often than not, the bride's dowry gets absorbed into the household for the greater good of the entire family. Perhaps a bride's dowry may help provide food for the entire family over a lifetime, or allow the purchase of a refrigerator. For many families, they do not see anything wrong in this sort of dowry absorption simply because it aids the bride as well. Furthermore, if the groom's family is better due to the dowry, the bride will enjoy a better life than perhaps her own mother did.

Of course, there is always that dark side. While these situations are becoming rarer, they still occur often enough to warrant some discussion on them. There are those families who will use the bride's dowry as their own. Often in these situations, the bride's dowry will be recycled for the groom's sisters' dowry. Sometimes, the groom's family uses the bride's dowry entirely for their own means and the bride does not benefit from it all. There have been horrible, true stories of the groom's family agreeing to one dowry and after the bride is married (and I might add, no longer a virgin) demanding more from the bride's parents. Threats of divorce are often used to entice the bride's parents to give more dowries. In a country where shame is brought down on the divorcee, parents of the bride will do whatever they can to save their daughters this shame. Occasionally, the threat of physical violence is used. There really is no way these type situations can end happily. Even if the bride's parents are able to scrape together more dowry, they will not be able to continue doing so and in the end the bride is either sent home in shame or sometimes killed in an "accident".

Often people do not realize the dowry system has repercussions in many different areas other than the obvious horrible one stated above. Given the fact that a girl's parents must provide a substantial dowry plus try to give her a college education or some form of formal education today, it is not surprising that the number of girl abortions is extremely high in India. Interestingly, India theoretically is a culture which places high value on females. The females of a family are the life-blood, the pride and honor of that family. It is a very contradictory situation to see such importance placed on females and then to see the abortion rates of female babies sky high. Most college-educated Indians I have spoken to, both male and female stand in firm objection to the dowry system and see that the twisted form it has taken is responsible for the degradation of women. In these families, girl children are just as prized as boy children and parents are teaching their daughters of their own worth as a human being.

Affects of Dowry On society

Dowry, widely known as the cancer of society, continues to be the most serious social problem.

The incidents related to dowry system paint a sordid picture of diminishing moral values. Many

innocent women are burnt or threw out of their homes by their husbands and in-laws. The

problem is too critical to be solved. Administration, government, parliament, law and order,

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social traditions all have failed rather miserably in putting an end to it. Only Islamic teachings

can stop this grievous and heinous crime as Islam does not permit taking or giving dowry.

Dowry is the result of overvaulting greed. Every person wants more and more money and to

achieve this, he does whatever he likes and even stoops himself down to the level of demanding

dowry. He cannot even think what is right and what is wrong. When the people, who have

unmarried sons, fail to meet their costly demands with their honest earnings, they follow the path

of dowry system. Due to this greed, there is a steep climb in the cases of dowry. Thus this

tradition has become a serious bug of our country. 

In India, dowry cases have been taking place for centuries. But, in the past, there were no serious

and grievous incidents of dowry. It was accepted as a social tradition of providing gifts for each

other. But now it has become one of the tools of rich people to show off their richness and

greedy people to fulfill their immoral demands.

Thanks to modern industrialization and materialism, birth of new brutal, barbaric and inhuman

traditions is taking place. People try to enjoy luxuries even when these are beyond the means

available to them. But then luxuries know no end. The fulfillment of one demand leads one to

take up another, and this vicious cycle goes on. The blackmailing of bride’s parents by the

greedy parents of bridegroom for extorting dowry is an easy way of hoarding wealth. And

parents of the bride stand helpless before the circumstances.

The ever widening chasm between the rich and the poor resulting in uncontrolled lust for wealth

is another important cause of continuation of dowry system. In India the greatly increasing

number of rich people is giving way to the new cause of dowry system. In the modern age of

selfish, economical and materialistic patterns of life, the poor are not able to cross the line

stretched by the rich even if they apply their full efforts to fulfill their demands. Then, if they

have an unmarried son, they find it a ‘God-given’ opportunity to become rich in a matter of days.

And the social system established by the greedy people helps such poor men.  The poor and

needy people having young marriageable girls to be married off have to bear the brunt. Many

unmarried girls have crossed their age limit of marriage due to this dowry system; some girls

even committed suicide. Owing to this system not only the people who have faced this dilemma

but the people who have small daughters are also suffering.

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The parents of daughters, who are suffering from the curse of dowry system, are also ‘criminals’.

After getting news of their daughter’s suffering from this new system, the parents advise her to

live in her in-law’s house and win their heart by her good deeds. The end of this is the bride-

burning, bride-suicide or at least continued mental and physical torture at the hands of her in-

laws. In spite of several laws to contain the dowry system, the parents do not even gather

courage to file a complaint against the perpetrators of this crime.

In the Muslim society, Islam does not permit to give and take dowry. Dowry is prohibited, and

thus a sin. Dowry is a cause of utter shame and disrespect in this life and a cause of punishment

in the life after death. According to natural justice the responsibility of earning and maintenance

of the family is rests on the man. And as such earning wealth by means of dowry is wrong. If this

practice is not stopped, human society will have to bear more serious results in the form of

decreasing ratio of females.

Control of dowry system:

Gradually the society can get transformed to a dowry free marriage system....well basudha dowry system is a curse for our society and also its a evil for our society .everyone should oppose it and protest against it. to erase this system every family should be aware about this and one thing should be remember by every bride family that if any groom or ant boys family demand for dowry the bride family should

Understanding dowry system can never be replaced by love marriage until and unless there is

some kind of mutual understanding between all parties if any involved...which would mean, the

in-laws, the marriageable depends..dowry another name can be gift for the newly wedded

couple...No chance of money in love marriage...wither love or arranged dowry has no place ne

were...The condition of dowry should

The dowry system in our society is the root cause of this ghost apprehension. Along with wiping out....Female foeticide is not because of the cost of education. But it is because of the system of dowry which is still prevailing in our country. So, if we can spread the knowledge to abolish dowry system, the numbers

if so why you still see people killing innocent girls even before their birth - the reason very simple "We cant see our back except others"...Cancel the wedding as today demand from the auto driver, never go ahead with this proposal....Break up their proposal and search for new and better family. This is the only solution to pluck out the dowry system from our society

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the boy or boys family demand for dowry then the girl’s father should stop the marriage and look for another boy then agreeing to the demands. In my community wino logic can justify dowry, especially demanding such....This is simply nonsense. These people who are after dowry always are up with illogical arguments. A pertinent question rises if they are taking

Dowry is an age old system. It was in vogue even in prehistoric age. However, over the period

of ages dowry is being looked from different beneficial angles/aspects. Now a day, it has

become a menace take it as a challenge for them2. They should take pledge to stop it from their

time.3. The dowry demanding is a crime. If somebody violets anybody can be punished under

[4.Penalty for demanding dowry

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References:

http://www.google.com.pk/search?hl=en&biw=1003&bih=567&defl=en&q=define:dowry&sa=X&ei=7En3TMa4GcHprAeu-NXvDw&ved=0CBcQkAE

http://www.allwords.com/word-dowry.html

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Dowry

http://www.islamawareness.net/Marriage/Dowry/dowry_article003.html

http://www.radianceweekly.com/156/3679/MORAL-COWARDS-Vs-MORAL-LEPERS/2009-05-03/Eves-Corner/Story-Detail/Dowry-The-Cancer-of-Society.html

http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-31Aug04-Print-Edition/163108200445.htm

http://sachet.org.pk/home/gender_columns/webcolumn_27.asp

http://sawaal.ibibo.com/agony-aunt/how-we-stop-dowry-system-832261.html

http://www.pardesiservices.com/tradition/arrangedmarg.asp