Dowry entrenched evil, CPM seeks action

CHENNAI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called for the strict enforcement of the Dowry Prohibition Act and the establishment of fast-track courts to handle dowry-related cases.

The demand was made at the state-level special conference on the eradication of dowry, organised by the CPM in Redhills, on the outskirts of Chennai, on Tuesday.

CPM politburo member U Vasuki and state secretary P Shanmugam later addressed the gathering.

A resolution moved by A Radhika, state committee member, and seconded by P Padma of Tiruvallur district committee, said dowry remains a deeply entrenched social evil that destroys women’s lives and fuels violence and deaths. According to National Crime Records Bureau data, nearly 18 women die every day due to dowry-related harassment.

The resolution stressed that despite Constitutional safeguards and the 1961 legislation prohibiting dowry, women continue to face atrocities, forced into suicides and murders linked to demands for money and gifts. Recent incidents in Tirupur, Tiruvallur, Salem and Madurai highlight the gravity of the problem, which the CPM termed not a private family issue but a form of systemic gender oppression.

The conference urged the State to ensure gender equality in education, employment and property rights, and to intensify awareness campaigns on dowry, terming it as a social crime.

It is recommended that police stations deal with complaints with sensitivity, and that special units be set up to register cases promptly. The party also pressed for district-level women’s grievance centres offering legal aid, medical care and counselling.