Women and Marriage in India

Arranged Marriages In % of marriages in India were arranged. Many girls in India get married at a very young age. The parents of the girls want to get rid of them, so they start looking for a husband when she's at the age of 8 years. They get married so early, because if they pass the teen ages it's difficult to get them married. And one other reason is that the marriage costs much money. At the day of the marriage, most of the women see their husbands for the first time.

Dowry Dowry or Dahej is the payment in cash or/and kind by the bride's family to the bridegroom' s family along with the giving away of the bride in Indian marriage. Kanyadanam is an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter, and dana means gift. Dowry originated in upper caste families as the wedding gift to the bride from her family. The dowry was later given to help with marriage expenses and became a form of insurance in the case that her in-laws mistreated her. An article appearing in the New York Times in 2003 told of the fact that dowries are now, but the practice is still very much alive.