No end to dowry deaths
The prevalence of the dowry system continues to baffle rights activists and policymakers. No amount of laws and campaigns seems enough to curtail the practice while women, many married off before their legal age, continue to suffer. In the latest case, a 20-year-old in Panchagarh was beaten to death, three years into her marriage, for failing to satisfy her husband's incessant demands for dowry. The husband appears to have been emboldened by the lack of action about his previous attempts to extract dowry, which went unpunished, support from his own family as well as the failure of the local administration to make a timely intervention. It all points to a tacit social tolerance of dowry that refuses to go away despite all preventive measures.
Just how widespread the practice remains can be understood from the fact that at least 25 women were either tortured to death or committed suicide over dowry in the first three months of this year alone. Imagine the number of girls and women who suffer various degrees of harassment because of dowry. The apparent ineffectiveness and lax enforcement of the dowry laws mean that simply criminalising it is not enough; there should be a concurrent change in people's mindsets also. The government must place greater importance on raising awareness in the local communities and engage all stakeholders in the process for a greater impact.
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