Menace of dowry.

Byline: ABDUL SAMAD SAMO - Karachi

Currently, our society is suffering from many social evils.'Dowry' is one of them. It consists of money and other items like jewellery which parents give away to their daughters at the time of their marriage. It is a custom which is prevalent in all sections of the society in one form or the other and vexes girls' parents to no end. This is a very old custom but in recent times it has become very widespread and problematic to the parents of the girls. In the past, it was a voluntary offer on the part of the parents but now-a-days it has become a compulsion and a necessary evil.

This is a great slur on the Pakistani society. It has also reduced the status of the girls. It shows that women are inferior to men. It is a curse specially for the poor parents who have to beg and borrow huge money to give dowry to their daughters. It causes a lot of sufferings to the girls as well to their parents. Some people compel their daughters-in-law to bring money even after the marriage. Thus, it has made life of the women a living hell.

It is difficult to find a good boy for a girl without paying a high price for the same. Wealthy parents of the boys try to demand a large amount of dowry both in cash as well as in kind. In a way, they fix the rate of the dowry according to the status of a boy. Thus, whether a parent can pay or not it has become compulsory at the time of marriage.

It has ruined the lives of many a brilliant girl because their parents could not afford to give sufficient dowry to the family where they intended to marry their daughters. Sometimes, the girls commit suicide when their husbands or in-laws persecute them to bring more and more money...