Marriage to dowry system statistics and psychology

It has been over 200,000 years since we evolved from Archaic Homo-Sapiens and 50,000 since the development of behavioural modernity. Marriage was the need of our society for its perpetual existence, integrity and kinship. There are different customs in different societies for marriages. Polygamy was the most common martial system recorded in Neolithic era. Without the perception of twisted human emotions evolving, our race adhere the practice in oblivion. Arranged marriage was the cult in historic civilisation for preservation of religion, wealth and knowledge. Repercussions of arranged marriages had already prevailed in Mesopotamian civilisations Hammurabis code 1780 B.C where marriage system was akin to slavery system. It was the consequence of imbalance in development of our psychological state.Furthermore obnoxious consequences of our different rituals beliefs, imbalanced sex ratio, irrational reasoning of sins etc. led to the birth of bride price and its participle dowry system. Even the Hebrew bible advocates bride price. Their existence can be traced in Babylon 1780 B.C, Greece 5th B.C, Roman empire, China up to 20th century and Indian sub continent since 20th century history. A logical study by great anthropologists shows that in a society of lagging female sex ratio and undeveloped region bride price prevails as the woman is treated as labour and loss of labour costs money whereas in regions of equal sex ratio, a rich man is free to choose between the numerous females here the dowry system countered in. Now a days dowry system has outdone the bride price system as our civilisation is more developed and men are primarily educated than women and enjoys liberty to choose their spouse.The problem related to dowry system now only exists in south Asian, Arabian and African countries. According to NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research, India) in Rural India between 1960 -1995 93% of population paid dowry and in between 19701994 94% were the culprit. In Rural Pakistan 19701993 97% hoisted their money and in Pakistan 19861991 87% had fallen prey to it whereas in Rural Bangladesh between the intervals of 19451960, 19601975 ,19751990 ,19901996 and in 2003 the numbers were 3%, 11%, 44%, 61% and 76% respectively. This is just a small chunk of a big statistical pie. I even lack the space to show the complete analytical statistics of all countries so ergo I shall only discuss the downtown South Asia.

Some more horrifying numbers are in Rural Karnataka, India 19601995 amount of 66,322 Rupees (1995) were paid as dowry and the average magnitude was 6 annual village male (brides father) wages. Rural Uttar Pradesh, India 19601995 an amount of 46,096 Rupees (1995) was paid. In Rural south-central India between1920s1980s a total of 4,792 Rupees (1983). In Rural Tamil Nadu (India) 19701994 30,000 Rupees, Delhi, India 19201984 a sum of 50,000 Rupees (1984). Rural Bangladesh 1996 gratitude of 12,700 Taka (1996) was given and in Rural Pakistan 19861991 18,196 Rupees were paid. Statistics are not only limited to the rural areas but urban areas also follows the same trend only difference it is not divulged and hard to make an estimation of money moreover the transfer of money doesnt go under the name of dowry.There are eight types of marriage in Hinduism, namely Brahma marriage, Daiva marriage, Arsha marriage, Prajapatya marriage, Gandharva marriage, Asura marriage, Rakshasa marriage, Paishacha marriage and none supports dowry but still the custom has averted in our culture. Now these days with the custom of dowry it is mandatory to pay dowry and in cases of disputes which is inevitable leads to harassment, murder, torment of brides by her in laws like a doe hunted by a pride disintegrated form mob. According to liable source there is death every hour related to dowry. In 2006 7681 dowry deaths were reported while in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 these numbers went up to 8093, 8172, 8383, 8391, 8618 and respectively while the number dipped in 2012 to 8322 but the drop is merely a glimmer of hope against this savage outset. Dowry death is the fifth most frequent crime committed against women. Torture tops this list and even few of torture cases are related with dowry. Dowry deaths accounts for 4% of total crime against women and 2% for injury related deaths. Red zone in India is Uttar Pradesh alone accounting for 27% of countrys tally. Some other purgatories for women are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal they all contribute about 67%. Although Rajasthan showed significant improvement from 439 to 230 deaths from 2008 to 2009 but this still this isnt enough to be admired yet. Nagaland and Lakshadweep are two territories where any dowry death case is barely registered. Female sex ratio of India was 940 in 2011 directly following these crimes committed against women.In India, the payment of a dowry is prohibited in 1961 under Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code. These laws were enacted to make it easier for the wife to seek redress from harassment by the husband's family. Anti-dowry laws have been criticized by men's rights groups, who accuse women and their families of misusing the laws but this side of act is merely significant to the dark side which it disembarks. There were registered about 100k cases of cruelty by husband and in laws on bride in India in 2011. Despite having numerous laws against dowry these victims rarely gets justice before their sacrifice.

Bibliography NCRB CENSUS Lok Sabha Economic Times Times of India Wikipedia Siwan-Anderson economy of dowry and bride price.