Question :

Read the following passage and answer the question that follows

 

Dowry according to the dictionary means the property which a woman brings to her husband at the time of her marriage. Originally, it must have meant property represented by the voluntary gifts given to the girl by her parents, relatives and friends out of love and affection, at the time of her marriage. May be these gifts were given to the girl in order  to enable her to set up a new home out of a sense of social responsibility. The system of dowry must be as old as the institution of marriage itself. It must also have been a universal practice. Every father wants to give some presents to his daughter when she is leaving his home for good and starting life afresh. There is nothing unusual, bad abnormal about it.

 

But as time passed, the system degenerated into an evil custom. It came to be looked upon as an evil and a curse. The dowry became an all- important and a primary factor in marriage. It became necessary for the parents of the girl to give a good dowry to her whether they could afford it or not. Worse still, the married life of a girl came to depend upon dowry. Marriage became impossible in the absence of a handsome dowry. Several girls, whose parents could not afford a good dowry, had to commit suicide as their greedy in-laws made their lives miserable. Newspapers are full of reports carrying harrowing tales of brides being burnt to death or driven to hang themselves because of constant nagging by their in laws. Some of the step-daughters of fortune choose the hangman’s noose while others consume poison or jump down the multi-storied buildings to deliver themselves from the clutches of the inhumane dowry seekers.

 

It is really tragic that in the progressive world of today, the evil of dowry continues to exist in all its horrid forms. Many homes are broken and several families are driven to ruin only because they are too poor to afford a rich dowry. Previously, in the selection of a bride, her family background, education and her intrinsic worth used to be the primary consideration. Now, dowry is the first and the only consideration in a majority of the matrimonial alliances. As a result, dowry, which was at one time a token of love and affection, has become a cause of oppression and exploitation of the worst order.

 

 

Which of the following is inferable?

Option 1: Human beings are losing moral values and being swayed by greed.

Option 2:

Sometimes, the brides are killed because of greed

Option 3: Parents of some girls are sometimes coerced to take recourse in death

Option 4: None of these

Option 5: Many families have been subjected to anguish because of the dowry system

Team Careers360 12th Jan, 2024