Dowry System in Bangladesh

By Nurunnahar Islam Munni

Bangladesh is a development country. In this country there are many kinds of unpleasant customs. Dowry is the most common unpleasant custom of those. It creates many problems. It is against the success of our country.

Through this custom the bride has to give a large amount of money, furniture, ornaments and many things to the bridegroom. It is a very terrible situation for the society. Women & their family suffer a lot for this dowry system.

I think poverty, illiteracy, narrow mentality, negative attitude to the women, dependence on husband and living on their income, social corruption etc are the main cause of dowry. Some time bridegroom wants money to do business or want to make his life settle with that money. In the village if brides are not beautiful to look at or if they get late married then they are to give a lot of money as dowry to the bridegroom.

It is a much unexpected situation for the bride’s family members. They are to collect a huge amount of money for their daughters’ or sisters’ marriage. Sometime they are to take loan, sell their lands, furniture, ornaments and even their own house to collect the money. They are to lose many things and face many problems for this dowry system.

We saw that women are tortured when they can not give any money to their husband. Some time we hear and see in the newspaper that some women are killed, some are hung and some are burnt by their husband, in-law’s family members and others.

For this dowry system divorce, doing suicide, mental and physical tortures, number of broken family are increasing day by day. It is also affecting on the new generation. They can not give attention in their education; can not contribute in any development activities. It hampers their mental development.

This custom is very disgraceful for our country. So we should try hard to remove this system from our country. There are some laws to remove it. But we can not apply them properly. We have to try to use these laws properly. There should be more steps on women’s right in our Law system. We should change our outlook, mentality by our Law rules. Narrow mentality of the greedy people should be changed and a hard punishment should be given to them.

But good thing is that, at present our Government is aware about it. Therefore this system is changing. In the past it was so high in our country. Now we have a law that who will give dowry and take dowry--- all will be known as a criminal. So if we stop giving dowry then I think that this system will be end soon.

Bloggers profile (Students)

Salma Akter

"I am Salma Ater. I am 26 years old. I was born on 30th June 1980 in Dhaka. I have five members in my family. They are my father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, my husband and my only son.

I passed Secondary School Certificate in 1995 and Higher Secondary Certificate in 1998 and B. Sc Degree in 2000. My favorite place is Cox’s Bazaar. Listening song is my hobby.

I informed about Nari Jibon from one of my relatives. Now I am a student of Nari Jibon in computer and English.

I knew about blogsite for the first time after coming at Nari Jibon. It’s a new part of our life and it’s a very interesting subject too. Through this blog site we can share our culture and peoples life to other countries. As a new writer I am trying my best to write something.

The most important part in this organization is the Nari Cyber Café. That is only for girls and women. They can practice their learning lessons and browse here. I am really happy to be a part of Nari Jibon Project. "

Nurunnahar Islam Munni

"My name is Nurunnahar Islam Munni. I have five family members in my family. They are my brother, sister, my parents and I. My birth place is Dhaka. I was born at Malibagh Chowdhuripara.

I passed Secondary School Certificate in 2007. Now I am doing Higher Secondary Certificate. Beside this I am doing computer and English course at Nari Jibon.

My favorite place is my native village. My hobby is reading any kinds of books and traveling in any historical places. In future I want to do business.

Nari Jibon is a nice organization. Here women and girls can develop their alternative skills to make their lives established. The blogsite is a new and interesting topic for me. I try to share my thoughts, culture, and natural beauty with other people and countries through the blog writing.

Here we have a Nari Cyber Café. Only women and girls can use this Cyber Café. Students can practice their learning lessons in their free time and can browse Internet. I like it very much and browse here if I get free time."

Bloggers profile (Students)

Nina Sultana Mim

"My name is Nina Sultana Mim. My date of birth is 29th October, in 1989. I was born in Dhaka city the capital of Bangladesh. My father’s name is Md. Abul Kashem. He is a Government Service Holder. My mother’s name is Nasima Akter Shima. She is an ideal housewife.

I passed Secondary School Certificate in 2005 from Magbazar Girl’s high school and Higher Secondary Certificate in 2007 from Ispahani Girl’s High School and College. Now I am going to admit myself in BBA.

Laksmipure is my favorite place. It is my home district. It is a nice village. “Haymonty” written by “Ravindronath Tagore” is my favorite book. My favorite movie is ‘Padma Nadir Majhi’.

Listening music and reading story books are my favorite hobby. My future plan is to be a Charted Accountant.

I was informed about Nari Jibon from one of my friends. I came here with her. Now I am doing English spoken and computer course from here.

When I came here then I did not know about blog. It is a new and very interesting subject for me. Now I submit Bangla and English poems, stories etc for blog. As a new writer I am trying my best to write."

Rumi Akter

"I am Rumi Akter. I was born in Narayongong. I passed my childhood at Narayongong. My birth day is on 3rd November, 1990. My father's name is Rahman Ali. He is dead. My mother's name is Rahima Begume. She is a house wife. We are two sisters and one brother.

I am a candidate of Secondary School Certificate. My village is my favorite place. My hobby is watching any kind of movies.

After finishing my education, I would like to be a banker.

I was informed about Nari Jibon from my sister. I love Nari Jibon because I didn't know anything. Now I know how to use computer, internet, can speak in English, knew about Blog and many other things after coming in Nari Jibon.

At first I took admission in English-1 class in Nari Jibon. Now I am doing English-2 and computer course here.

I had no idea about the blog before coming here. When I had come here, then I knew about blog. It is very interesting topic. We can share our culture, lifestyle etc with other countries. I am trying to share my culture and people of my country with the other countries."

Bloggers profile (Students)

Asma Akter

"My name is Asma Akter. I was born on 7th July, in 1982. I was born in the district Modhupur. I passed my childhood in Modhupur. I have eight members in my family. They are my mother, father, four sisters and two brothers.

I passed the Secondary School Certificate from Khilgaon High School in 1998 and Higher Secondary Certificate from Khilgaon Girls’ College. I finished my B.A. from Shidheshwary Degree College. Now I am doing Masters in Abujor Giffary College.

I visited to many places in Bangladesh. Among them I liked Cox’s Bazaar the most. I like to read books in my free time. Shomoresh Mojumder is my favorite writer. Humayun Ahmed is also my favorite writer. In future I want to be a writer.

I am a student of Nari Jibon. It has many activities. Nari Cyber Café is one of them. There women and girls can practice computer and browse internet in their free time.

In my free time I used to write stories, poems etc. But I could not get opportunity to publish those anywhere. So after some time I stopped writing. But after coming at Nari Jibon, I knew about Nari Jibon’s blog site. I got a new hope to publish my stories, poems through this blog site. I am very happy for getting this opportunity."

Linda Pandey

"I am Linda Pandey. My family members are my father, mother and younger sister. My father’s name is Dulal Panday. He is a driver, my mother is a house wife and my sister is a candidate of Secondary School Certificate examination.

I finished my Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate from Barishal. Now I am trying to get admission in any University.

I like to read novel and story books in my free time. Shomoresh Mojumder and Humaun Ahmed is my favorite writer. My favorite color is pink.

After finishing my academic education I want to be independent in my life. I like banking as a profession. Therefore I will try to be a banker.

I did not know about Nari Jibon. After coming here I informed that it has Bengali Section, English section, tailoring section, computer section, photography section etc. Now beside my academic education I am doing Computer Office Program and English Spoken Course at Nari Jibon."

Bloggers profile (Students)

Sharmin Chowdhury Shikha

"My name is Sharmin Chowdhury Shikha. I was born in Dhaka on 21st January, in 1986. I have five family members with me.

I passed the Higher Secondary Certificate Examination from Siddheswary Girls College in 2003. Now I am reading in Honors 3rd Year on Accounting in Siddheswary Girls College.

My hobby is listening to music and singing songs. My favorite place is Cox’s Bazaar. After finishing my study I will do a job in any respectable bank.

I informed about Nari Jibon from one of my friends. Now I am a student of Nari Jibon in computer and English. I know about blog site after coming Nari Jibon. It’s a new part of our life and it’s a very important subject too. Through blog site we can share our culture and people’s life with other countries. As a new writer I will try my best to write something in blog.

Another important part of this organization is Nari Jibon cyber café. It is especially for women and girls. Here women and girls can use cyber café in a nice and safe environment. They can also practice here on their learning lessons. "


Jannatul Fardouse Nargis

"My name is Jannatul Fardouse Nargis. I was born on 3rd March, in 1989 at Boro Maghbazaar in Dhaka. I live at Maghbazaar from my childhood.

I have a Family with six members. My father is a Government Employer. My mother is a house wife. We are two sisters and two brothers. My elder sister is doing Honors in Economics. My younger brother is a student of class six. And my little brother is a student of class five.

I am trying to admit in a university. I passed Higher Secondary Certificate in 2007 from Shiddheswary Girls College in Dhaka and Secondary School Certificate in 2005 from Nazrul Shikshalaya in Dhaka.

My favorite place is my grand mother’s house. It is a village. It is a beautiful place. My favorite hobby is painting. I love to paint pictures.

My future plan is to be a B.C.S service holder. I also want to do social works.

I did not know about Nari Jibon Project. My neighbor gave me the information about it. Then I came with them to saw the project. After coming here I knew that Nari Jibon is only for women. It has Bengali Course, English Course, Tailoring Course, Computer Course and Photography Course etc. I had an interest do some courses. Therefore I have admitted in English Spoken and Computer Office Program at Nari Jibon.

I did not know about blog. But when I came to this organization then I understood about blog. I think it is a very interesting subject. I am very happy to be a part of this organization."