Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec.6: The Supreme Court today stated that while laws are necessary, people must reform from inside and learn to treat women with respect in order to remove the societal scourge of dowry. The court was considering a case in which the petitioner claimed that the threat of dowry persisted despite many criminal law provisions in the Indian Penal Code, and requested that a Dowry Prohibition Officer be appointed, similar to a Right To Information (RTI) officer.
Advocate VK Biju, appearing for petitioners from Kerala said, “I am disturbed due to the situation in Kerala. A police officer was suspended for not taking action in the dowry case of an Ayurveda doctor. It’s an evil practice in Kerala. So much gold and other things are demanded.”
He was referring to Vismaya, a 24-year-old medical student studying Ayurveda who was discovered dead at her marital residence in Sasthamkotta, Kerala. The police arrested her husband on dowry death charges a day after her alleged suicide.
The petitioners proposed that couples take mandatory “pre-marriage” seminars to educate and warn them about dowry. They suggested that the courses be made a requirement for a legally legitimate marriage.
Justice DY Chandrachud, who was hearing the plea along with Justice AS Bopanna said, “India does not just reside in the cities of Kochi, but also in small villages. Where will personnel and facilities be found for holding such sessions? Very serious consequences will follow if they do not take these pre-marriage courses.”
Despite strict rules, dowry continues to destabilise society and negatively impact the lives of innocent young women, according to the petitioners’ lawyer.
“Laws are important but the change also has to come from within and how we treat a woman who comes into the family and the social importance of a woman,” Justice DY Chandrachud responded.
The court stated that it could not enter the domain of crafting legislative revisions and instead requested that the Law Commission of India look into the issues of dowry deaths and domestic violence “from all angles” and propose methods to give current laws more teeth in order to improve them.
