#Trending : A Woman Files A Case Of Harassment Against Husband. Says He Forced Her To Flirt With His Friends.
There are times, especially during this lockdown, when my mother and I make ourselves a cup of tea and sit down to have a little tete-a-tete where we discuss almost anything and everything that is going on in our minds. While my topics of discussion are a motley mix of work, food, travel and online shopping, hers are a little more specific and circle around ideas of my marriage. Which is not on the cards for another few years. From discussing how she’d want me to dress up, to giving me tips on how not to handle my future MIL, she seems to be constantly giving me a crash course on getting married and staying married. And even though I manage to play along almost every time, what I never entertain is when my mom starts to talk about what all she’d give away with me during my wedding.
You see, the latest show on Netflix, Indian Matchmaking may have opened up a strong dialogue on the dynamics of arranged marriage in India, sharing the expectations of both the girl and the boy from their significant other, but what they missed out on showing was the one major expectation that the family of the groom holds from the family of the bride, and that is dowry. Technically deemed illegal, but yet demanded in full, dowry is perhaps is the silent epidemic that has been plaguing our society for years on end now.
And for those who thought times are changing, think again because with the recent case that surfaced where a 43-year-old woman was thrashed by her husband because he didn’t get dowry, it seems like we’re far from a state of change. The woman who is from Gujarat has recently filed a complaint against her husband at Mahila West Police Station for harassing her over dowry, to the point he even forced her to flirt with his friends.
A 43-year-old woman from Ahmedabad was allegedly thrashed by her husband after she refused to ask her parents to fulfil his dowry demands.https://t.co/eF3kjFMcph
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 3, 2020
Also Read : A Man From Kerala Murdered His Wife Using A Snake Because He Wanted More Money. When Will Dowry Deaths Stop?
The woman married the guy back in 2002, when the family claims to have given the groom 50 tolas of gold as dowry, where as the groom assured that he had an MBA and owns textile mills. Six months into the marriage, he started demanding more money and when his wife refused to comply, he began to thrash her for it. In 2005, she gave birth to a baby boy and in the following year, the wife found out that the guy had lied about having an MBA.
She further shared that she started a travel agency after taking a loan as her husband’s business was not doing well. During this time, he got involved in drinking and gambling and continued harassing her. The complainant added that he even forced her to flirt with his friends so that he could flirt with their wives in return. In 2019, he left for thee US without his wife. Later, when the pandemic hit and her business suffered a loss, the complainant demanded her own jewellery back from her in-laws, but was refused even then and thrown out of the house. This is when she stepped up to file a complaint.
And while we appreciate her for being courageous enough to speak up about the harassment, we wish that women would do it sooner than later. It is a shame that even now people demand dowry and are willing to go to extreme lengths when they are denied so. It is about time the society recognises the need to abolish such patriarchal and misogynist traditions and give women the respect we so deserves.
