Dowry? Dowry? No! Papa: Kerala woman slaps a hard one on the age old custom

The latest crime statistics show that there were 8,455 incidents of dowry death during the year 2014. According to the NCRB compendium on crime statistics in India, this is a 4.6 percent increase from the year 2013. [caption id=“attachment_2539206” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Remya Ramachandran. Facebook[/caption] These numbers show that even though it has been 53 years since the Dowry Prohibition Act came into being, dowry is a non-negotiable factor during wedding discussions in many families. Remya Ramachandran, however, decided to take the malpractice of dowry by the proverbial horns and cancelled her wedding after the groom demanded money and gold as dowry. She wrote a stirring post on her Facebook:

കൂട്ടുകാരെ, വിവാഹദിനം എന്നാണെന്ന് ചോദിക്കുന്നവര്ക്ക് ഒരറിയിപ്പ് . നിശ്ചയത്തിനു മുന്പ് വരെ എന്നെ മാത്രം മതിയെന്നു പ… Posted by Remya Ramachandran on  Wednesday, December 2, 2015

(Friends, Here is an announcement for people asking me about my wedding day. The person, who before the engagement, used to say that he needed just me, is now demanding Rs 5 lakh and 50 sovereigns of gold. Since I am completely against dowry and believe it will be a losing proposition to buy into a family that cannot keep its word, I have decided not to go ahead with this alliance. Thank you. Remya) 

(Translated by The Indian Express)

The public post received more than 5000 likes and was widely shared on Facebook with a number of comments commending her for her courage and boldness.

Remya soon wrote another post thanking all those who supported her and that she wanted to declare her decision and not to hurt anyone in particular.

Dear friends , Thanks for your huge support . I’m overwhelmed . I juz wanted to let my circle know about… Posted by Remya Ramachandran on  Saturday, December 5, 2015

Kudos to Remya for standing up for her rights and most importantly for her own self respect and identity.