Even though we live in the 21st century, it is heartbreaking how many young women or their fathers & mothers succumb to the pressure of dowry. Here is the heartbreaking story of one such father who couldn’t bear the burden of dowry and died of suicide.
Even in the 21st century when a girl is born you could hear many relatives and friends telling parents:
“Ladki hui hai, abhi se shaadi k liye jodna shuru kardo.”
No wonder, many girls are still killed in the mothers’ wombs for being considered as “bojh” on their family.
Times may have changed, girls might have proven the world their mettle by being successful surgeons, scientists, and much more. But it doesn’t matter how successful & educated you are, you couldn’t shed away the label of being called – “paraya dhan”!
But, what breaks our heart is to see how even still many educated Indians demand dowry without any shame. Many times, the unmet dowry requests either lead to harassment of women after marriage or suicide.
Recently, when a 50-year-old father, who failed to arrange last-minute dowry cash money for his daughter’s wedding, gave up on his life. The 50-year-old man who hailed from Haryana’s Rewari district went to Alwar to meet his sister and brother-in-law and was found hanging on Saturday morning, said a report.
The father identified as Kailash Rajput, left behind a heartbreaking suicide note written on the back of the wedding card.
Just a few days before the wedding, the groom’s family demanded a dowry of around Rs 30 lakh from him. His daughter’s marriage was scheduled to happen on November 25.
Speaking to Times of India, a police official said,
“The deceased left behind a suicide note in which he wrote that while he had arranged around Rs 13 lakh for the wedding. However, he was not able to arrange Rs 11 lakh to meet the demands of the would be in-laws. He has named the would be groom and in-laws in the note claiming that they were not budging from their demands and he was worried that he would be humiliated in society if he was unable to pay the dowry.”
In his suicide note, the father has also requested the state government to take strict action against the people who forced him to take this step.
As per the local police, the body has been handed over to the family after post-mortem on Saturday, said local police.
Though the investigation has been initiated, it is heartbreaking how this father was forced to take his own life by the greedy monsters in our society. We wish someone could have told his father that it is better to not give his daughter than to give up on his own life; We wish someone could have told him that it’s not him but those greedy in-laws, who need to be humiliated for asking for dowry.
As we pray for strength for his family to bear this grave loss; we hope authorities would take strict and swift actions to deliver justice to this family!
R.I.P.