Dowry, a toxic cultural inheritance, still thrives in most parts of Bangladesh. In our country, dowry is considered as an integral part of marriage and it is customary for the bride’s parents to fulfil the dowry demand. In recent times, practice of dowry and extravagant weddings have emerged as major social issues across the Indian subcontinent. Especially in Bangladesh, despite the enforcement of stringent anti-dowry laws in 1980 and 2018, violence perpetrated against women is still on the rise due to the persistent and overpowering culture of dowry. This paper, therefore, explores the socio-economic aspects of dowry and identifies dowry as a social crime as well as argues that dowry problem still exists due to the inadequate enforcement of the legislations. This paper also proposes a mechanism on how to address this prevailing social issue.
Suraia Jebin (Mon,) studied this question.