Two horrendous incidents in the last two days jolted Goa and awakened it to the atrocities that are being inflicted upon its women. On Tuesday a woman who had been held captive for 15 years in her house, by her brothers and their wives, was set free by the police and an NGO. On Wednesday, a family flew down from Mumbai to rescue their daughter who was married to a Goan man and who complained of dowry harassment at the hands of her husband and in-laws.
The family denied any dowry harassment and claimed that the allegations were politically motivated, but that such incidents still take place in the State speak volumes for just how enlightened a society we are and forces us to look to break free from that particular social mindset that makes people treat humans without dignity. What was further shocking in both the cases, was that it was not strangers treating another person badly, but family members who are at fault and acting over a period of time.
But, this is not the first of such cases in recent months to have arisen in the State. Less than a year ago, Goa had been stunned to learn that a young woman had taken her own life as she was allegedly harassed by her husband and in-laws for the money that she, as a bride, had received from the government’s Laadli Laxmi scheme. Her in-laws were demanding the money from the scheme, and she wanted to give the money to her brother. This suicide was a horrific reminder to all that women in Goa are not safe and that dowry, in different forms, is a practice that still exists in the State.
The existence of the practice of dowry, though banned and with strong laws to persecute under, has been further reinforced with the case this week. It also stresses on the fact that dowry, however much the government may try to end it, will continue to lurk behind the walls of houses, and be exposed sometimes only by the most tragic of circumstances, as was the case last year in Quepem. In that case it was tragically ironic that the Laadli Laxmi scheme that was meant to strengthen the independence of women ended up, making her the target for harassment by greedy in-laws.
Dowry deaths and harassment may not be as common any longer, but that these still occur is a cause of concern. While it theoretically may be possible to create laws to end the practice of dowry, the practicality of this is debatable as the practice has not stopped. Whether in Goa or in the rest of the country, dowry continues to pop up in the news. The entire country needs to change its mindset so that customs such as dowry are eradicated. The country needs to accept and admit that women today are capable of doing what men can. And, women too need to break out from the belief that they need to depend on men. The invisible shackles that are placed on women in the country by beliefs have to be broken once and for all.
Dowry is illegal but it still prevails. Can these incidents in Goa lead to a new battle against dowry? While the law exists to deal with the custom, its enforcement has to be strict, but a practice as evil as the dowry system has to be ended and the best manner to end it would perhaps be by creating social awareness on the practice. Concerted campaigns to reach all women across religion and caste would help more than the mere existence of laws.
