Show The Herald Journal India is unsuccessful in stopping By James Miles treatment" NEW DELHI (UPI) — Baal tried hard to make her marrlaf e work but ahe could not five her the automobile they demanded Her husband and mother-in-ladoused her with kerosene and tried to burn her to death Rani 22 was married in May 1984 after graduating Delhi Unirersity Like many city girls her parents found her husband through a in-la- w newspaper advertisement When she married she brought nearly nine ounces of cold a television set a video cassette recorder furniture and kitchenware in “gifts" — as dowry is euphemistically termed —for her affluent in-la- It was not enough auto-ricksha- w Her businessman husband wanted the latest Indian status symbol: a Suzukl-Maru- ti car Her mother-in-latold him not to sleep with his Rani until his demands were met She thought a child might weaken his resolve The dowry conflict escalated into screaming quarrels until the day Rani suddenly found herself drenched with kerosene n Unlike many brides she struggled and screamed Frightened the neighbors would hear her husband locked her into her bedroom forgetting the room had a telephone She was able to caliber brother tor help Rani not her real name barely avoided being added to the Ust of 240 “dowry deaths" reported in India in 1984 Some experts claim many more such deaths went unreported Dowry-relate- d violence has become so acute that New Delhi police have set up a special dowry w brow-beate- unit “A disproportionately high number of young women were dying" saidKanwanJit Deol the unit chief and one of its three women officers “We felt these cases were not getting th Novelist prospers attacking taboos and hyprocrisy By Harlhar Krlshnan DALLAS Even appearance (UPI) physical Sivasankari in Chandrasekhar doesn't hide her contempt for the hypocrisy and taboos so pervasive in India's ancient Tamil society The Vermillion dot on her forehead the brilliant gold embroidered sarees ahe wears and the tantalizing American perfume ahe prefers flatter her chistled beauty Such would be unthink- able on a Hindu widow who had not freed herself from the shackles of her society But as a novelist short story writer commentator and contributor to innumerable Tamil magazines in India and abroad Sivasankari has broken with tradition— and for her efforts has earned a readership of 30 million people She is currently working on her 55th novel While some members of the society frown on Sivasankari’s defiance none would dare question the preeminent position she enjoys as a Tamil writer Her topics and subjects are so daring that even a male Tamil writer would hesitate to venture into them “I owe my writing success to my husband who kept telling me that I was becoming extremely dependent on him and that I should learn to be on my own in case something happened to him We were also childless another fact the society doesn't look favorably upon" ahe said during a recent visit to Dallas Her husband who died about eight months ago persuaded her to apply for a public relations Job at the Indian branch of the First National City Bank of New York “My American interviewer never asked me any question: he was only interested to know what I thought of the bank’s decor I was hired That was my eye-open- er because I started meeting people at parties “I found men who would be perfect gentlemen the next day getting smashing drunk and trying to grab every woman at the party as if they owned them One night I came home distressed by the behavior of one man and began writing about That was in 1968 In 24 hours I had finished a short story It was accepted by a magazine and it was a huge success” To appreciate Sivasankari one must understand her society It wasn’t long ago when Indian women used to commit Sati (Jump into a fire) upon becoming widows The widows were required to shave their heads shun makeup and were forbidden to venture out of their it homes same That society allowed the widowers to remarry any time they pleased Sivasankari whose writings attack the massive social problems confronting the Indian is a Brahmin the society in highest a caste system that is a main cause of the society's fragmentation and divisiveness Alcoholism adultery drugs poverty corruption — problems prevalent in India but carefully hidden by the society — goaded Sivasankari to expose them An Immensely successful novel dealt with a man who drank heavily without his wife’s knowledge i The newspapers csrry reports of “dowry deaths" almost daily Despite a law paased more than 20 years ago making it illegal tor a bridegroom's family to demand dowry most brides are still expected to give the husband's family gifts In India marriages are usually arranged by the couple's parents and the young bride lives with her husband’s family One of the main causes of dowry death Deol explained is that people regard a son's marriage as an opportunity to ralae their standard of living “Someone who’s always ridden a bicycle thinks he can get a motorbike" she said Wives whose husbands hold Jobs such as drivers watchmen and cooks are most likely to be harassed for expensive dowries Deol said but the problem occurs even o in families is essentially an urban problem Although known in the countryside where death by drowning in a well is more common than burning rural people are generally too poor tor massive dowries to become an issue PramUa Dandavate a former member of y parliament and campaigner said the problem reflects the status of women in well-to-d- Bride-burni- ng anti-dowr- India y anti-dowr- in-la- silence “(The abused bride) feels she has come to the end of her life" Kant said “She is virtually and husband prepared to die Her mother-in-laburn her in the kitchen" Many put up no w resistance “Bride burning" is usually disguised as a kitchen accident blaming a fault in the kerosene stoves commonly used in India or as suicide and the police are easily bribed Kant said “The police take the position of whichever side gives them money They do not try to find out what the truth is" Kant's group provides free legal aid for women seeking divorce and shelters women harassed by their Kant hears of 10 cases a month of dowry murders in New Delhi alone far more than the police estimate of 43 in-la- d “Our society is a society" Dandavate explained “The woman is a secondary person “Dowry has reduced the existence of women to a lesser status than a cow If someone's cow dies he has to spend more money to get another cow but if his wife dies his new bride comes with more money" Woden have very little chance of supporting themsel'es independently in India and divorce is frowned on said Suman Krishna Kant head of the Women's Vigilance Committee an feudal-minde- per rear Of the 593 women who died from burna in New Delhi last year 337 were recorded as accidents and 213 as suicides police figures show “Many young women are uneducated and have little idea of safety" said police officer Deol when questioned about the statistics “In any police action there is always (an) allegation of bribery" Burning is indeed 17 1985-- 11 bride-burnin- g group The domestic conflict over dowry in the cramped quarters of a typical Indian home leads to unreasoning fury and hatred but rarely to divorce she said The case of Rani who told her tale at a y meeting of an group is unusual Her parents advised a divorce but it was not until the attempted burning that Rani gave up trying to save the marriage More often the harassed bride's own parents abuse in pressure her to suffer her anti-dowr- Logan Utah Monday June a common means of suicide tor women in India where women once followed the ancient custom of “satL” in which a widow throws herself on her husband's funeral pyre Kant said the better education that young women receive today often provokes tension mothers-in-laDanwith their India's said Indian davate a former legislator recent exposure to the West fueled conflicts as w less-educat- ed well “Until independence (from Britain in 1947) our necessities were very few But now the influence of Western living has only created greediness" she said Dandavate proposed a bill in 1981 as an opposition member of parliament that would Act but close loopholes in the 1961 she is dissatisfied by the legislation that eventually was adopted Under the current law harrassment tor dowry is punishable by up to three years Imprisonment and aiding a suicide by a maximum of seven years Deol said her police unit receives some 200 harassment complaints a ' Anti-Dow- ry month Dandavate believes the law should carry a specific ceiling on marriage expenses — 4000 to and make 5000 rupees or 1325 to 1400 a legal bride a to registering gifts given she can divorced is she so if that requirement reclaim them Women's groups which formed in India in the late 1970s and are primarily social work organisations have held several demonstrations outside homes where dowry deaths have occurred and have called for women to boycott marriages in which dowry is given “But the boycotts are not very successful" said Kant who sees little hope for an end to the problem unless marriage customs are changed - through education |