Satyamev Jayate: Ugly dowry truths of big fat Indian weddings

New Delhi: Eighty per cent of the bank loans are taken by people to meet dowry demands. One woman dies every hour in our country in dowry related cases. On Sunday, May 20, Aamir Khan brought home the ugly truths about giving and accepting dowry in our big fat Indian weddings.

Aamir spoke to several victims, community leaders and even a politician to get to the bottom of the issue. The truth was as unpalatable as it was horrific. Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, President of the Lok Bhalai Party in Punjab, who came on as a guest on the show through video conferencing, said close to 30,000 women in his state are languishing at their in-laws, being forced to do backbreaking menial labour because their parents were too poor to meet the dowry demands of their in-laws.

Every parent wished to see their daughter settled comfortably in a happy marriage and Paramjeet's were no exception. She had not met his future husband until after her engagement. After accepting a lot of money, including his education fees for a course he applied for in Australia, Paramjeet's husband kept the pressure on her middle class parents to send more. One day his family insisted that she grant him divorce over the internet having milked them dry.

Equally heartbreaking is the story of Komal who was left to starve in the US and locked out of her home in the November chill by her husband who was dissatisfied by the dowry he received from her parents, who spent Rs 60 lakh on jewellery.