New Delhi: Why men don't understand that they are getting married to a woman who will not only take care of their homes but will also take over- all responsibility of their family on her own shoulders? Why woman are treated as an object to play with? Why is she treated as an outsider in her own home?  Does a woman make the home complete with just loads of money? Isn't it enough that she is coming to someone else's place leaving her family aside  to adopt the new family as her own?

Why every year thousands of young married women in India are tortured, why are they blackmailed in the name of money (dowry)? The family which should welcome the new bride with open arms does not hesitate in making life difficult for her. It's not just the in-laws who are blackmailing the bride but even the guys, whom the girl believed would love and protect her, are torturing her for the sake of money.   

If this social evil continues unabashedly then a day may come when parents would think twice before marrying-off their daughters.

The custom of dowry is not a new one in India where a bride's family is expected to pay a certain negotiated sum to a groom's family at the time of marriage.

To eradicate such stupid man-made customs, India had passed a law in 1961 (The Dowry Prohibition Act) that made the giving and taking of dowry illegal in India.  But, the law has failed to deter those who harass the newly wed girls. The worst part is that the demand of dowry isn't a one time demand. It has turned into a never- ending demand in some cases. They ask for dowry in the form of gold, land, expense for foreign education of the groom and so on.  

Till the time the sum is being paid in any form  the groom's families are ok with it but the moment girl's family stops paying attention to their demands then it results in  murder, rape, drowning or poisoning of the bride. In some cases, they have been set to fire in front of their families.