Assembly should pass Bill on preventing ostentatious marriages: Satheedevi

Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson advocates for legislation to curb extravagant weddings and dowry in the State.

Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson P. Satheedevi has expressed regret that the State Assembly has failed to pass legislation that conveys its social commitment to curbing unlimited expenditure on weddings in the State.

She was speaking on the draft ‘Bill for Prevention of Extravaganza and Unlimited Expenditure on Marriages in Kerala, 2021’ at the inauguration of a seminar organised by the Kerala Women’s Commission in association with the Kerala State Youth Commission on the topic ‘For a dowry-free Kerala’ here on Saturday.

The women’s commission had submitted the draft Bill for checking dowry harassment and ostentatious weddings to the government in 2021 in the wake of a number of dowry deaths in the State.

Ms. Satheedevi pointed out that even though asking for dowry was an offence, women protection officers did not get any complaints about dowry demands. Complaints of dowry arose only when marriages ran into problems, often with months, and families approached the courts or the commission for relief.

The draft Bill was the State’s intervention to prevent extravagant weddings that put families, particularly those of brides, under immense financial burden. Women were harassed and killed for dowry or they ended their lives. There was need for legislation that all expenses incurred in connection with a wedding should only be a certain percentage of the income of the families organising the wedding, Ms. Satheedevi said.

The draft Bill recommended that ahead of the wedding, the families should submit a statement on the expenses incurred to the district dowry prevention officers. A committee should be constituted in all local bodies to monitor if the expenses are in accordance with the declaration and submit a report within seven days to the district dowry prevention officers. If violations are found by the committee, then relevant evidence should be collected and action such as fine can be imposed. The draft Bill also directs that the State government should issue clear orders on the powers and responsibilities of the dowry prevention officers.

Ms. Satheedevi said the seminar here was the first programme of a year-long Statewide campaign against dowry by the commission.