Is this a case of materialism?
Holding on to destructive traditions?
Simple prejudice?
Whichever it is, something NEEDS to be done about it.
| A stubborn practice |
| By John Lancaster |
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| India’s middle class grows, but ugly dowry war tradition persists. Charanpreet Kaur, 19, had been married less than nine months when her husband and his family decided it was time for her to go. Trapping her in the bathroom, her husband clamped his hand over her mouth while his father doused her with kerosene, according to a police document. The father then lit a match, setting his daughter-in-law on fire. She died five days later. Notwithstanding the gold jewellery, colour television set and other finery that served as the price of admission to her husband’s middle-class Sikh household, Charanpreet’s new relations were not satisfied with the bounty and kept demanding more, according to Charanpreet’s relatives and the statement she gave investigators before she died. “Even before this incident my father-in-law used to put pressure on me to get more money,” said the statement by the young woman, who was three months pregnant. Unusual only because Charanpreet lived long enough to point a finger at her alleged attackers, who claimed the fire was accidental, the case underscores the deeply entrenched nature of dowry — and its grim corollary, the murder of young brides whose families fail to ante up — even in the face of rising levels of income and education linked to India’s fast-growing economy.
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1 comment:
This really struck me because on the same day that you commented, I read an article on Gulf News, too, that told of husband abuse (abuse -- physical and/or emotional -- being done by wives on their husband). I don't understand it, really. And then your comment came.
I sure wonder if those men are physically weak that they can't fight back to at least defend themselves. Or are they so concerned about their wife's well-being that they (the husbands) end up being at the loser?
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