No more dowries

The dowry system is still prevalent in many areas of Pakistan. This cruel practice leads to gender discrimination by making families pay what is effectively a financial penalty for having a daughter. Sons, on the other hand, become a means of getting money out of others.

Many families have been driven broke by this practice and brides from families who refuse to pay or are deemed to have paid too little are mistreated by their in-laws. It is time the government put a stop to this practice as it is hard to think of it bringing anything other than financial and emotional pain.

Aliha Mariam

Islamabad