The dowry-related harassment cases have become prominent again in the wake of the recent death of Vismaya, a native of Kollam in Kerala. The Local Police have started a noble awareness campaign named “say no to dowry.” The Chief of police for Kerala, Mr. Anil Kant, launched the initiative at the police headquarters. The police will be in unison in organizing vehicle rallies and slogan contests in the districts. The campaign will be done in cooperation with socially committed organizations. The Chief of police has also decided to direct all of the petitions related to the atrocities against women to be handled by station house officers in a time-bound manner. Public opinion has been mixed on social media. People are preaching on the platforms that before trying to educate the public, the government officials should be implementing this in their own lives and then work the principles into the police force.
Dowry is a long-drawn practice in Indian society. It was a practice looked down upon by many prominent leaders in the past like Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Still, this practice has lasted for a long time and has continued to shame the Indian culture and eat the society from within. Society is still showing its patriarchal roots and constantly carrying out its atrocities against women in this way. Being a woman in this Indian society has never been easy. The continuation of shady practices like dowry is still holding the women in society back and not letting them break their shackles. No one should be entitled to this kind of practice, and everyone in society should be treated on an equal pedestal. The practices will not stop only by campaigns only. The moral values must be instilled in the next generation by the current one. Only then can we move towards a dowry-free society.