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rights activists, on the other hand, contend that the dowry system devalues women and contributes to spreading societal evils and encourages domestic violence, mental torture and setting women on fire, as in Rihana’s case. In these cases, a few survive, deformed and handicapped while most others end in death. But dowry has its roots in something broader, related primarily to the rights of women over parental property.In spite of the law, cases where women have sought their parental property rights are rare and cases where a parent willingly gives property rights to their daughter are even rarer, especially in rural areas. Furthermore, as the law stipulates that the woman must return her property upon marriage, the husband still feels that he has to take all responsibility for his wife.
Economic independence can be a major source of empowerment for everyone, especially women. A woman is still born feeling like a liability, who will be passed on to a husband and her life will be decided depending on whom she will be married to. She knows that as soon as she is married, she won’t have any right over her parental property and the economic dependency of a woman passes on to her husband, putting her in a subordinate position. Certainly, assuring that women have a right to their husband’s property secures something but it doesn’t change the major problem of women being dependent on men, which leads to men assuming the dominant role.
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