1.2.14 Dowry Demands

Roopa survived having acid poured down her throat after a dowry was refused.

She is fed via a tube to the stomach, and lives with constant pain.

Acid is a 'popular' weapon.

The dowry system is the cause of worry, fear, abuse and death.  There is no place for it in the world if the extent of the conseqences includes murder.  Yet it seems in India alone, there is a death every hour of every day that's linked to the dissatisfaction of a mother giving birth to a girl instead of a boy.  [Some estimates suggest that a true figure is twice or even three times that]  It can only be a sad and awful thing when a mother is actually pleased to benefit from an ultrasound scan whereby the sex of the unborn child can be established, and glad to go along with an abortion of a female foetus considering she'll not be shunned, or killed later on.  Among the poorest, the dowry system is even more significant, and people are even more desperate - and so desperate for a son not a daughter.

In the news today I see the story of a mother and daughter who were murdered by the husband and his relatives.  Having kerosene poured over you and being set alight is perhaps the worst possible way to be killed (?) and displays in the father the worst possible trait imaginable. The victims were seen in the yard by a neighbour, still alive, but were dead by the time they arrived at hospital with 90% burns.  Imagine the pain . . . impossible.

In some cultures there is the "eye for an eye" penalty.  I suggest that for the crime of pouring kerosene over your wife and daughter and setting them alight, the father ought to be sentenced to the same fate.  I am quite sure that whatever the vows exchanged are in wedding ceremonies, there's no example in any culture that does not announce an intent to love, to honour and the cherish.  Yet being a complete cunt is somehow allowed; perhaps if the groom crosses his fingers behind his back when declaring his love, it allows him to be a cunt later on if the baby-making side of things means he is saddled with a girl.

I hope the authorities make sure the culprits pay heavily and that there is a message sent out to try and prevent such actions.  Somehow, though, they will surely miss the opportunity to be strong, and the ingrained approach will mean many more deaths, unhappiness at a massive level, and a general bias in society that does no good to anyone.

...