Can you think of any advantages of the dowry system? At the very outset, let’s declare that it is a punishable offense under the Indian Penal Code.
Now, let’s come back to the topic of the dowry system. What are its advantages, according to you.
If you are baffled, it’s only a logical reaction to a question like that. Because it is impossible to think of ways an oppressive system like dowry could be advantageous to some.
But wait. A section titled, “Advantages of dowry” finds space in a sociology book for Bachelors’ degree of St. Jospeh’s college, as shared in this viral post.
(We couldn’t lay our hands on the cover of the book as the college distributed this chapter as photocopied notes, as told to us by a student)
It lists down not one, not two but SEVEN advantages of dowry. The only caveat is that the arguments are written from the perspective of those who support the dowry system.
According to this section, the dowry system helps in attracting grooms for “ugly girls”.
It also states that dowry could be an added incentive for unwilling, handsome grooms to commit to marriage.
Another reason given to justify dowry system is the fact that one ensures that daughters don’t have to be given a share in father’s property, thus protecting land holdings from getting smaller.
A post by Rithika Ramesh, a facebook user and an undergrad student brought this to the notice of people.
She writes:
“This is the status of education in reputed institutes in India. In a Sociology class of 60, no student or faculty member stands up against this bullshit. This is the study material provided by St. Joseph’s college, Shanti Nagar, Bengaluru, to a B.A. student.We have a long way to go,” she said.
Many argued that the book was merely giving space to the “mentality” of people who promote and propagate the dowry system, which was countered by others.
We spoke to Rithika about how she got the material and what made her post it.
A similar paragraph found space in a Sociology book meant for class 12 students in Maharashtra.
#Sociology as per the state education board, Maharashtra, #India: ‘Ugliness’ Leads to #Dowry: https://t.co/Gv7Cqubcai
— Dr Zareen P Bharucha (@b_zareen) February 4, 2017
This bit was reportedly removed later after outrage on social media.
According to National Crime Records Bureau, 21 lives are lost to dowry every day across India while conviction rate is less than 35 per cent.
Source: India Today and NCRB
Giving or taking dowry is a punishable offence in India. Under the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act 1984, anyone who asks for dowry can be jailed for a maximum period of 2 years and a fined Rs. 10,000.
We have sought a reaction from a representative of the political science department of the college. The story will be updated as and when we get a reaction from her.
