What the heck is going on in India?
I was watching a documentary called “Dowry Law” on Netflix.
It isn’t uncommon for marriages to be set up by parents in lieu of love. The engrained monetary rituals are quite the heavy burden as the bride’s family pays for the entire wedding, including gifts for all who come. However, additional large sums of money and gifts are also expected to be forked over directly to the groom and his family. Ironically, this sets the young bride up for murder by means of “kitchen fire.”
Dowry deaths. Bride burning.
It’s a cruel and painful way to go, and not always at the hands of men. The upside for the groom and his family is they get to keep the loot, and start the process all over again. Oh yeah, these fires happen in the months after the wedding, never before. Pure coincidence, I’m sure.
The documentary involved going to the hospital to speak with doctors and dying victims. One young newlywed lady, who later died, told a suspicious story about having gasoline poured on her, and something to do with a match. According to the useless police: No, couldn’t be. It was just another one of those darned accidental kitchen fire deaths. . .
Death by kitchen fire. How can anyone say that with a straight face? You might as well say these women spontaneously combusted. The shocked journalist, Adam Mynott, points out that this happens NOWHERE else in the world.
Any CSI watcher could solve one of these cases in less than the allotted hour for the program. Frankly, I’m surprised there aren’t enough revenge killings to put a stop to this practice.
There could be other options, perhaps a continuous campaign involving bright red spray paint and choice wording, enough to ostracize the offending family from their community, their friends, and their work. At the very least it could warn the next Mrs. kitchen-fire-to-be. 
In all seriousness, my best advice to change the game is not to play it. Don’t hand over your daughter’s head on a platter full of money.
Game over.
Wilfred Knight
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