Dowry Practice and Rural Society: An Investigation of Khanshama Upazila in Bangladesh

Abstract The practice of the dowry has gradually been spreading in Bangladesh society since the ancient time. The main objective of this study was to explore social implications of this dowry practice in the Hindu Community of Bangladesh. The study area is purposively selected and 351 household heads were interviewed using purposive sampling. A total number of marriage ceremonies took in the last two decades is 526. This study found variation in the dowry amount across the social classes and also noticed various reasons, some of them are bettering daughter's marital life, upgrading social status, unwillingness of groom's family in marriage without dowry and so on. All these factors led people to sell or mortgage their most valuable properties (cattle, land, the gold ornament and so on). It concludes that such kind of the cursed system is a furuncle to the poorer section of the society.