The Kerala State Women’s Commission ((SWC) has submitted a draft bill to the State government on checking dowry harassment and extravagant weddings.
The draft ‘Bill for Prevention of Extravaganza and Unlimited Expenditure on Marriages in Kerala, 2021’ comes in the wake of an increase in ostentatious marriages in the State.
The commission had been entrusted with preparing the draft of the Bill.
The rise in ostentatious weddings among sections of society and the social and economic implications of such pomp and rapacity; the debt burden on families of the bride and groom, particularly those of the bride; and the murders of women in the name of dowry after marriage or their suicides in the wake of harassment led to the drafting of the Bill, the commission said in a statement.
The extravagance in ceremonies before and after weddings in various caste and religious communities will come under the purview of the Bill, which also recommends penalty for violators.
The commission had earlier launched a campaign to create awareness of ostentatious weddings and violence against women in homes in the name of dowry. Campaign on media, including social media, with the message ‘End dowry’ had been held in this phase.
The second phase of the campaign titled ‘Sakudumbam sthreedhanathinte ethire’ (Family against dowry) will get under way on August 15. It will involve entire families taking a pledge against dowry online. They will participate in classes on the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and share their opinions on dowry prohibition. The four-month online campaign, which will see Ministers, people’s representatives, and artistes and sportspersons take part, will conclude on November 26 that will be observed as Dowry Prohibition Day in the State.
The commission had also submitted its recommendations on amendments to the the Dowry Prohibition Act to the government. It had observed that as per Clause 2 of Section 3 of the Act, any presents made at the time of a marriage to either party to the marriage shall not be deemed to be dowry. However, in the name of gifts, dowry was indirectly changing hands in the State. In such marriages, cases were not being charged under the Act, unless a woman lost her life.
It also recommended that a clause added to the Dowry Prohibition (Maintenance of Lists of Presents to the Bride and Bridegroom) Rules, 1985, that a list of the presents received should be signed by the couple and their parents/guardians and certified by a notary and be presented with the application for registration of marriage and that an affidavit on this could be handed over to the dowry prohibition officers by the bride’s family.
The State had been rocked by a series of deaths of young women owing to dowry harassment in recent months.
