Beating the summer 250 years ago

Today she is considered an icon or the Rani of Jhansi of modern times, who sent her greedy would-be in-laws behind bars. Least bothered about society, she took the brave step and called up the police immediately when the groom and his parents began making demands in front of the wedding guests and just when the ceremony was about to be conducted. Her action has become a rallying point for others for whom she seems to have coined the slogan: "Don’t marry a boy who is more interested in dowry than you."

Nisha, a software-engineering student, raised her voice against the widely prevalent social evil. She received her parents’ support which the media took up and emphasised. Nisha’s father spent Rs. 1.5 lakh to buy two each of refrigerators, air-conditioners and washing machines. The reason he bought everything in pairs was that he did not want the brother of his son-in-law to feel deprived. And this is what triggered off the greed. The recipients probably took him for a fool and decided to make additional demands.

Nisha has become a role model for every girl. Her bold action has inspired courage in other girls and many followed in her footsteps in other parts of India. In Delhi, two other girls, Anupama Singh and Farzana behaved similarly. Farzana, who had been married three years earlier and had remained at her parents’ home, abandoned her ‘ruksat’ and decided not to go when her husband’s family demanded more dowry. Likewise, a few days after the story of Nisha’s bravery hit the headlines, Anupama Singh too declined to go to her husband’s home despite the fact that the marriage ceremony had been concluded. In her case too, the reason was the demand for more dowry.

Women’s groups have taken up the issue in a big way and are now demanding that the dowry law be implemented more vigorously and stern and immediate action be taken against violations of the Dowry Act and greedy and mercenary parents-in-law. They claim that if the basis for dowry is the plea that they have spent a large amount of money on educating the boy and providing training and skills to enable him to make a decent living and support a wife, then the parents of the girl too have not spent less in educating their child and making her an efficient and conscientious home-maker.

The DayAfter tried to contact Nisha several times, but she was not willing to face the media. During a Meet-the-Press organised by the Delhi Study Group, the mike was placed before her for five minutes, but representatives of various women groups who seemed to be ‘sponsoring’ her tried to overawe her and take control over the ‘answers’ that Nisha probably wanted to give.