`Dowry can help to get ugly women married off`: Textbook lists shocking merits of dowry system

New Delhi: In a shocking post that has now gone viral, an image of a page from a book lists out the "merits and advantages" of the dowry system! Several netizens have claimed that the content is from the Textbook of Sociology for Nurses by TK Indrani with a subhead which reads, “Merits of Dowry”. The book is, as per media reports, reading material for nursing students and apparently, its cover mentions that the book is written as per the Indian Nursing Council syllabus.

Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, has among others, shared the post and called upon Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to act immediately and remove such shameful books from circulation and being included in the syllabus. Chaturvedi tweeted, "I request Shri @dpradhanbjp ji to remove such books from circulation. That a textbook elaborating the merits of dowry can actually exist in our curriculum is a shame for the nation and its constitution."

The section points out that dowry is "helpful in establishing new household". The custom of giving household items like cots, refrigerators, and vehicles is common in India, the text reads. The fact that girls get a share of parental property in dowry is listed as another "merit" of dowry. The text also says that burdened by the expectation of paying dowry, parents get girls educated, which therefore is an "indirect advantage" of the dowry system. And the most shocking point comes in the last. "Ugly looking girls can be married off with attractive dowry with well or ugly looking boys," the text reads.

The post has drawn sharp criticism from social media users. The dowry menace continues to plague India even in this 21st century with cases getting reported daily about physical and verbal abuse that women face in the name of dowry, sometimes so much so that desperate girls are driven to suicide.