KEBIJAKAN PEMERINTAH INDIA DALAM MENGATASI MASALAH‘DOWRY DEATHS’

Abstract

This study explains about the policy of the Indian government
in addressing the problem of ‘dowry deaths’ in India. Dowry
deaths itself is a term for a murder or violence against wives in
which performed by the husband or the husband's family
because of the inability of the wife to meet the demand of paying
the dowry. The impact of the tradition of giving dowry is not only
the death of the wives, but also the impact on the discrimination
over the women and selective abortion of female fetuses. The
number of victims of dowry death reached more than 8000
deaths per year.
The phenomenon of dowry deaths required the Indian
government to intervene to resolve the issue. Indian government
have managed to make some policies, it covers the application of
the rules of prohibiting dowry in the marriage that began with the
Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, that punish the offender of dowry
death with the threat of no less than seven years in prison; and
also, some policies to provide financial incentives to daughter, to
prohibit the sex-selective abortion to female fetuses. In addition,
the Indian central government's policy is also supported by the
initiative of the state government to initiate several related
policies such as banning ultrasound technology, forbidding
abortion, as well as providing incentives to girls, and various
other policies. Although the government has been implementing
various policies, but the weakness of law enforcement caused by
the strong patriarchal culture in society is one reason why these
policies are less effective in preventing loss of life because of
'dowry deaths'.