***Let the women, who, in most instances, are a lot more compassionate, understanding, empathetic and caring about the trials, tribulations, travails and troubles of fellow women take care of the situation. Let them teach the male perpetrators a lesson they will never forget.***

RECENT press reports in local and international media have aptly highlighted the protest of an Indian bride, Nisha Sharma, a 21-year old Computer Engineering student, against dowry. The capricious, inflated and instant dowry demand right at the wedding ceremony by the avaricious family of the bridegroom was quite abhorrent. The originally haggled, negotiated and settled offering of two TV sets, two home theatres, two refrigerators, one item each for the groom and the brother, the family patriarch, added to the apogee prize and luxury gift of a new car apparently was not enough for the groom's obscenely materialistic clan. The groom's family made an unexpected, bonus claim. They demanded $25,000/- in local currency as ready cash payment. This sudden and exorbitant demand caused a raucous verbal imbroglio followed by a physical brawl between the two antagonistic sides.

The bride, customarily bashful and quiet and acting prim and proper, could not take it any longer. She called the police on her cell phone, had the bridegroom and some of his overly aggressive and excessively greedy relatives arrested and thrown in the slammer. She became an instantaneous celebrity.

Andy Warhol, the pop American artist and icon, famous for creating iconoclastic images of President Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Campbell soup can, once commented that everyone in the world eventually will enjoy fifteen minutes of fame. You may attribute the media attention, feminist hullabaloo, adoration of the hoi polloi as the Warhol 15-minute fame syndrome for Nisha. But the fact is dowry, oppression and torture and even insidious, brutal murder for dowry has become an all too familiar feature in this country and neighboring India.

Women suffer from inhuman repression for dowry, iniquitous acid barns inflicted on them by unsuccessful suitors or as easy, perverse and atrocious act to get even in family conflicts. An alarming number of them are subjected to gang rapes, often followed by murder. In the past, we related these repugnant evil acts against women taking place in New Delhi or elsewhere in India. These have crept into our society with misogynist ferocity and wrath. In the absence of political will, inaction by law enforcing agencies, general blasé

attitude of the male dominated society and, worse yet, indifference and negligence by the authorities, these heinous crimes against women does not seem to be abetting anytime soon unless stern and strident, swift and exemplary punishment is meted out to the perpetrators.

There are stern laws to deal with the ugly and obscene offense of seeking and snatching dowry. But these are seldom implemented. Even if someone is rarely prosecuted, it is so uncommon and the whole process is so convoluted and

prolonged that the deterrent aspect is totally lost. As far as law enforcement is concerned, with all the murder and mayhem, other high profile crimes, dowry is ascribed a low priority and is in the lower end of

ation and degradation, dishonor and insult associated with the phenomenon of dowry. It says in the shrill and piercing tone that women are mere objects of disdain and derision, items of exploitation, expropriation

the totem pole of justice, prevention and redress.

The scourge of dowry, as a social crime against humanity, or more appropriately, against 'womenity', is merely one notch below that of acid burning. Women are shown no respect and given no respite. They become a means of get-rich-quick scheme of the groom and his family. It is probable and quite possible that in this society, a veritable brawny bastion of male domination, men probably do not quite get it. Most males do not understand the humili-

and possession. All men are not chauvinistic pigs but many men in this subcontinent cannot fathom, comprehend or contemplate the anguish and depth of despair that women routinely endure. Men may only empathize superficially and condescendingly but will never quite feel the pain, indignity, outrage and denigration.

In order to safeguard the marriageable women from the curse of widespread and insatiable demand for dowry, a zero tolerance policy must necessarily be initiated. One

way would be to form a strike force against dowry and other awful infractions and transgressions against women. The task force, comprising of police, magistrates, prosecutors and other high power pertinent personnel should necessarily be mostly women. Special courts must be set up to mete out swift and exemplary punishment. The judges of these courts must necessarily be women. Men, their laws and their enforcements have so far failed the women.

Let the women, who, in most instances, are a lot more compassionate, understanding, empathetic and caring about the trials, tribulations, travails and troubles of fellow women take care of the situation. Let them teach the male perpetrators a lesson they will never forget. The shoe will be on the other foot and, in the Biblical parlance, these men will 'reap what they have sown.' Other potential dowry-grabbing males may find such lessons scary and alarming. This may prevent them from committing similar crimes of dowry and the rest for fear of legal and righteous reprisal.