Is India free? India still in age-old shackles? Dowry practice is a severe problem of social evil among the upper castes and middle classes. Imagine dowry prevailing in Kerala, being the state with the highest literacy rate. Kerala is even doomed with age-old practices and police not taking any action or preventive steps.
Another horrifying episode of torture has surfaced in Kochi, following a wave of suicides by young women in Kerala over dowry-related persecution in the previous month. Over her refusal to sell her wedding gold to buy an apartment, a 31-year-old lady claims her husband and in-laws have beaten her black and blue, denied her food for days, and crushed her father’s ribs.
Imagine even after taking a massive amount of dowry during the wedding. According to the woman, about half her family’s wealth, the family was not satisfied and wanted more and more. A new Kerala government order has compelled all state government employees to give an affidavit to their departmental heads stating that they have not accepted or offered dowry in the wake of shocking incidences of violence against women in the state. The Woman and Child Welfare Agency have issued a new directive directing all heads to guarantee that they submit a report to the department every six months. Following a string of suicides by young women last month due to dowry harassment, the Kerala government created a Chief Dowry Prohibition Officer. It issued a new directive to District Collectors, Women and Child Development Officers, and Women Protection Officers.
Surprisingly, just after the many suicide allegations surfaced last month, a note written by then-Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in 2014 became viral. In the Facebook post, he claims that the regulations against dowry are well-defined, claiming that they were initially included in the Kerala Government Servants Contract Rules in 1961. An amendment in 1976 clarified them, stating that government employees are prohibited from giving or receiving dowry.