The paper even highlights that dowry is a useful and an effective method of attracting good, handsome and sometimes unwilling boys to marriage.
Dowry is illegal in India which attracts penalty and imprisonment. But sociology study material allegedly being circulated at a top Bengaluru college ends up promoting the evil practice of dowry. The study material details that according to supporters of the practice of dowry, it has many advantages. "The marriage of ugly girls, who otherwise would have gone without a partner, is made possible by offering (a) heavy amount of dowry", says the study material. The writer of the paper, which was photocopied and distributed to undergraduates at the college, mentions that this is the thinking of those who support the practice of dowry, but the suggestion that dowry practice helps "ugly girls" find a match is itself shocking and goes against the law which prohibits the practice of dowry.
The paper even highlights that dowry is a useful and an effective method of attracting good, handsome and sometimes unwilling boys to marriage.
A page from the study material, which praises dowry system and logic behind this practice, was shared on Facebook.
This started a storm on the social media, and the page was reposted by many on Twitter. The College maintains that the chapter was not from a prescribed textbook.
"In fact, we have no prescribed textbook for sociology," a college official was reported as saying in media reports. "The students read reference material," he claimed.
Some of the other benefits that the study material lists are:
* It may help get a footing for self-employment and can provide a fresh start for the couple.
* Dowry helps poor but meritorious boys to pursue further education.
* It increases the love and affection a bride enjoys from her in-laws and husband.
* Paying dowry helps girls climb the social ladder by getting high-value grooms.
* It helps maintain harmony in the family. But property, however, should not be given in dowry.
Bengaluru resident Rithika Ramesh,20, posted a picture of a page allegedly from the B.A. Sociology text being taught at St. Joseph's College.
According to a report in India Today, Professor Kiran Jeevan, the Public Relations Officer of St. Joseph's College, said an investigation was under way. He said the college was "trying to find the root of the problem."
"Such views have never been part of the college syllabus. In fact, the department and the college are opposed to such obscurantist and oppressive patriarchal views as are contained in the page cited," his statement read.
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