Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan urges politicians to keep off from dowry marriages

After Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also made a call to political leaders to keep off from marriages involving dowry.

Replying to questions in the state Assembly on Wednesday on dowry deaths and crimes against women, the Chief Minister said that families that are involved in giving and taking dowry should be socially isolated. It would give women the courage to take a stand against dowry. Awareness needs to be created against dowry so that men would also keep off from demanding dowry for marriages.

Vijayan also warned of stringent action against jilted lovers and stalkers who attack women.

Of late Kerala has witnessed a series of incidents of dowry deaths and young women being killed by jilted lovers. The opposition Congress MLAs who raised the issue in the house urged that the police need to be vigilant against such incidents and ensure stringent action in crimes against women.

The Governor, who recently took part in a fasting organised by various Gandhian outfits to condemn dowry deaths and harassments, had urged public representatives to keep off from marriages in which dowry was involved. He mooted a provision for cancelling educational certificates of those implicated in dowry-related cases as well as to insist on a bond from students while awarding the certificates that they would neither give nor take dowry.