A woman carrying her baby who approached a local government office for grievance redressal attempted self-immolation on the premises after the officials concerned reportedly did not pay heed to her repeated requests for help.

The incident took place in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district, on the day when the local administration had organised a grievance redressal camp.

A few of the journalists who were at the spot covering the event spotted the woman pouring kerosene upon herself.

"When we looked around, we realised that this was happening just a few feet from where we were standing. The woman seemed to be in extreme distress and had doused herself and her daughter in kerosene and was just about to strike the matchbox. Three of us intervened and tried to reason with her and snatched the matchbox out of her hands," Sethu, a photojournalist, told WION.

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Journalists in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ramanathapuram?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ramanathapuram</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TamilNadu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TamilNadu</a> rescue a lady, who attempted to self-immolate along with her infant,as authorities didn't act upon her complaints of husband abandoning her &amp; daughter, demanding dowry 
 
Journos Sethu, Kumar, Veera saved the duo right in time 🙏🙌<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/India?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#India</a> <a href="https://t.co/wZucjT4P4s">pic.twitter.com/wZucjT4P4s</a>
— Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) <a href="https://twitter.com/sdhrthmp/status/1524688883212238848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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According to reports, the woman had approached the office seeking help against dowry harassment. The woman and her child were abandoned by her husband after unable to provide Rs.500,000 cash in dowry.

"There is no respite for me, and nobody has helped… My husband abandoned me and did not even come to see the girl child when she was born. He is saying that he doesn’t like me… He(my husband Ramesh) is working at the Keelakarai branch of the Indian Bank, and has been demanding Rs 500,000—this after he took 15 sovereigns of gold ornaments,” the woman can be heard while weeping and lamenting in the clip.

&nbsp;Following the incident, the journalists Sethu, Kumar and Veera called the police and ensured that the distressed woman was taken to safety.

A woman carrying her baby who approached a local government office for grievance redressal attempted self-immolation on the premises after the officials concerned reportedly did not pay heed to her repeated requests for help.

A woman carrying her baby who approached a local government office for grievance redressal attempted self-immolation on the premises after the officials concerned reportedly did not pay heed to her repeated requests for help. The incident took place in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district, on the day when the local administration had organised a grievance redressal camp. A few of the journalists who were at the spot covering the event spotted the woman pouring kerosene upon herself. "When we looked around, we realised that this was happening just a few feet from where we were standing. The woman seemed to be in extreme distress and had doused herself and her daughter in kerosene and was just about to strike the matchbox. Three of us intervened and tried to reason with her and snatched the matchbox out of her hands," Sethu, a photojournalist, told WION. Journalists in #ramanathapuram #TamilNadu rescue a lady, who attempted to self-immolate along with her infant,as authorities didn't act upon her complaints of husband abandoning her & daughter, demanding dowry Journos Sethu, Kumar, Veera saved the duo right in time 🙏🙌#India pic.twitter.com/wZucjT4P4s — Sidharth.M.P (@sdhrthmp) May 12, 2022 × According to reports, the woman had approached the office seeking help against dowry harassment. The woman and her child were abandoned by her husband after unable to provide Rs.500,000 cash in dowry. "There is no respite for me, and nobody has helped… My husband abandoned me and did not even come to see the girl child when she was born. He is saying that he doesn’t like me… He(my husband Ramesh) is working at the Keelakarai branch of the Indian Bank, and has been demanding Rs 500,000—this after he took 15 sovereigns of gold ornaments,” the woman can be heard while weeping and lamenting in the clip. Following the incident, the journalists Sethu, Kumar and Veera called the police and ensured that the distressed woman was taken to safety.

Watch: Indian woman carrying baby attempts self-immolation outside govt office

The concept of dowry has been an old tradition that is now slowly going into the shadows and is dealt with as a ‘hush’ payment from the bride’s side.

Although it has been illegal in India since 1961, a study has revealed that dowry is being paid regularly even now and nearly 95 per cent of weddings have had an exchange of dowry even in these modern times.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/growing-epidemic-of-sexual-violence-in-new-zealand-childrens-commissioner-394497" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/growing-epidemic-of-sexual-violence-in-new-zealand-childrens-commissioner-394497&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjwkdf85svxAhX0xzgGHV5vAcQQFjAHegQIAhAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw3PLG7aH0oRdT4mvDsLrUp9" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/growing-epidemic-of-sexual-violence-in-new-zealand-childrens-commissioner-394497" target="_blank">Growing 'epidemic' of&nbsp;sexual&nbsp;violence in New Zealand</a>

Dowry is rightly portrayed to be a social evil as it is a practice of paying and accepting objects of value (such as clothes, jewellery, furniture, cash and more) between the two families. Usually, it is the bride’s family who has to pay these objects to the groom's family.

The study was conducted by the World Bank who looked at nearly 40,000 marriages that happened between 1960 and 2008 in 17 Indian states that comprise 96 per cent of the country’s population.

Experts calculated "net dowry" to study the gap between what was paid by the bride’s family to the groom’s and vice-versa, and the results showed that in the majority of the cases it was the bride’s family who had paid more – in cash and kind – to the groom’s family, rather than the opposite.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/rising-cases-of-sexual-harassment-in-uk-schools-alarming-watchdog-390631" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/rising-cases-of-sexual-harassment-in-uk-schools-alarming-watchdog-390631&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjFioOH58vxAhV_xzgGHd5RBn84ChAWMAB6BAgFEAI&amp;usg=AOvVaw1fGBe3OH-m6caOsTeKed5-" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/rising-cases-of-sexual-harassment-in-uk-schools-alarming-watchdog-390631" target="_blank">Rising cases of&nbsp;sexual harassment&nbsp;in UK schools alarming</a>

As per the calculated amount that was admitted by families, on average a groom’s family spends $67 (INR 5,000) on gifts to the bride’s family. However, the bride’s family spends nearly $429 (INR 32,000) for gifts and other monetary payments to the groom’s family, thus making the net dowry nearly $361 (INR 27,000).

It has also been observed that in general the dowry amount is usually 14 per cent of the annual household income and is also made up of a substantial amount from the family’s savings.

"As a share of income, dowry has gone down over time because on average rural incomes have risen in India," said Dr Anukriti, an economist at the World Bank Research Group. "But this is just an average claim - to calculate how large dowry is relative to household income for each household, we will need data on household income or expenditure, but unfortunately we don't have such data available," she said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/workplace-harassment-a-global-plague-amid-pandemic-377849" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/workplace-harassment-a-global-plague-amid-pandemic-377849&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjFioOH58vxAhV_xzgGHd5RBn84ChAWMAV6BAgAEAI&amp;usg=AOvVaw0oltDMx0rBR9P83-jJknq6" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/workplace-harassment-a-global-plague-amid-pandemic-377849" target="_blank">Workplace&nbsp;harassment: A global plague amid pandemic</a>

While a lot of the thought process has changed since 2008, researchers believe the trend of dowry is still very prevalent in India as the idea is very common in all major religious groups too, with Christians and Sikhs showing a "striking increase in dowry".

Some states such as Kerala, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat saw inflation in dowry, with Kerala registering the highest average dowry in recent years. On the other hand, states such as Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal saw a decrease in average dowry.

"We don't have definitive answers about these differences. We hope to explore this question in future research," Dr Anukriti said.

The concept of dowry has been an old tradition that is now slowly going into the shadows and is dealt with as a ‘hush’ payment from the bride’s side. Although it has been illegal in India since 1961, a study has revealed that dowry is being paid regularly even now and nearly 95 per cent of weddings have had an exchange of dowry even in these modern times.

The concept of dowry has been an old tradition that is now slowly going into the shadows and is dealt with as a ‘hush’ payment from the bride’s side. Although it has been illegal in India since 1961, a study has revealed that dowry is being paid regularly even now and nearly 95 per cent of weddings have had an exchange of dowry even in these modern times. Also read | Growing 'epidemic' of sexual violence in New Zealand Dowry is rightly portrayed to be a social evil as it is a practice of paying and accepting objects of value (such as clothes, jewellery, furniture, cash and more) between the two families. Usually, it is the bride’s family who has to pay these objects to the groom's family. The study was conducted by the World Bank who looked at nearly 40,000 marriages that happened between 1960 and 2008 in 17 Indian states that comprise 96 per cent of the country’s population. Experts calculated "net dowry" to study the gap between what was paid by the bride’s family to the groom’s and vice-versa, and the results showed that in the majority of the cases it was the bride’s family who had paid more – in cash and kind – to the groom’s family, rather than the opposite. Also read | Rising cases of sexual harassment in UK schools alarming As per the calculated amount that was admitted by families, on average a groom’s family spends $67 (INR 5,000) on gifts to the bride’s family. However, the bride’s family spends nearly $429 (INR 32,000) for gifts and other monetary payments to the groom’s family, thus making the net dowry nearly $361 (INR 27,000). It has also been observed that in general the dowry amount is usually 14 per cent of the annual household income and is also made up of a substantial amount from the family’s savings. "As a share of income, dowry has gone down over time because on average rural incomes have risen in India," said Dr Anukriti, an economist at the World Bank Research Group. "But this is just an average claim - to calculate how large dowry is relative to household income for each household, we will need data on household income or expenditure, but unfortunately we don't have such data available," she said. Also read | Workplace harassment: A global plague amid pandemic While a lot of the thought process has changed since 2008, researchers believe the trend of dowry is still very prevalent in India as the idea is very common in all major religious groups too, with Christians and Sikhs showing a "striking increase in dowry". Some states such as Kerala, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat saw inflation in dowry, with Kerala registering the highest average dowry in recent years. On the other hand, states such as Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal saw a decrease in average dowry. "We don't have definitive answers about these differences. We hope to explore this question in future research," Dr Anukriti said.

Dowry payments still largely taking place in India: World Bank

Students in India&#39;s western state of Maharashtra are being taught that the dowry culture &quot;prevails&quot; because &quot;ugly women find it difficult to get married&quot;.

A Class XII sociology textbook said dowry was a social ill but the reason&nbsp;listed as to why the culture persists in a chapter titled &#39;Major Social Problems in India&#39; smacks of downright misogyny.

The text goes on to say: &quot;To marry such girls, bridegroom and his family demand more dowry. Parents of such girls become helpless and pay dowry as per the demands of the bridegroom&rsquo;s family. It leads to rise in the practice of dowry system.&rdquo;

The state&#39;s education board chief,&nbsp;GK Mhamane, told CNN-News 18 that he will discuss the matter with the Board of Studies.

&quot;I have asked for an explanation. I am out of station now and will return tomorrow. I will discuss it with the officials and will take action against whoever is responsible.&quot;

Payment of dowry remains endemic both in rural and urban India. Many households demand dowry from the bride&#39;s side, putting enormous financial strain on the family. Failure to pay dowry has also led to a litany of crimes against women, including immolation.

Although India has legal measures to clamp down on crimes related to dowry, women have been often subjected to abuse and even death if their families are unable to cough up the amount.

(WION)

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A chapter in a Class XII textbook states: 'To marry such (unattractive) girls, bridegroom and his family demand more dowry'

Students in India's western state of Maharashtra are being taught that the dowry culture "prevails" because "ugly women find it difficult to get married". A Class XII sociology textbook said dowry was a social ill but the reason listed as to why the culture persists in a chapter titled 'Major Social Problems in India' smacks of downright misogyny. The text goes on to say: "To marry such girls, bridegroom and his family demand more dowry. Parents of such girls become helpless and pay dowry as per the demands of the bridegroom’s family. It leads to rise in the practice of dowry system.” The state's education board chief, GK Mhamane, told CNN-News 18 that he will discuss the matter with the Board of Studies. "I have asked for an explanation. I am out of station now and will return tomorrow. I will discuss it with the officials and will take action against whoever is responsible." Payment of dowry remains endemic both in rural and urban India. Many households demand dowry from the bride's side, putting enormous financial strain on the family. Failure to pay dowry has also led to a litany of crimes against women, including immolation. Although India has legal measures to clamp down on crimes related to dowry, women have been often subjected to abuse and even death if their families are unable to cough up the amount. (WION)

Indian students taught that 'ugly women' reason why dowry persists

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Watch: Indian woman carrying baby attempts self-immolation outside govt office

Dowry payments still largely taking place in India: World Bank

Indian students taught that 'ugly women' reason why dowry persists