"Ugly Girls Can Be Married Off": Textbook Lists Dowry 'Merits' In Shocker

An image of a book page, listing the "merits and advantages" of the dowry system, has gone viral on social media, prompting people to wonder the kind of message such reading material is sending to youngsters and the society at large.

The page, which many social media users said is from Textbook of Sociology for Nurses by T K Indrani, has a section under the subhead, "Merits of Dowry". The book is a reading material for nursing students and its cover says it is written as per the Indian Nursing Council syllabus.

Among the social media users who shared the image of the page was Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who called upon Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to remove such books from circulation and underlined that their presence in our curriculum is a "shame".

I request Shri @dpradhanbjp ji to remove such books from circulation. That a textbook elaborating the merits of dowry can actually exist in our curriculum is a shame for the nation and its constitution. https://t.co/qQVE1FaOEw

— Priyanka Chaturvedi???????? (@priyankac19) April 3, 2022

The section from the book states that "dowry is helpful in establishing new household" with furniture, appliances such as refrigerators and vehicles.

It then lists girls getting a share of parental property in dowry as another "merit" of the regressive practice, which has been banned in the country for long but continues nonetheless. Reports of women being harassed, physically assaulted, killed and driven to suicide over dowry demands continue to come in even today. 

The section says that an "an indirect advantage" of the dowry system is that parents have now started educating their girls so that they have to give less dowry.

The last point in the page says the dowry system can help marry off "ugly looking girls".

Twitter users have called out the book, saying that its appalling that such books are part of the curriculum for college-level students.