Kerala launches dowry-free marriage websites

Nilambur, Mar 5: The residents of Malappuram district will launch two websites on dowry-free marriages.

In Jan 2008, the villagers of Nilambur village took a pledge in the presence of Congress leader Sachin Pilot that they will not give nor ask for dowry.

"The new websites (dowry-free marriages and dowry-free village) would be launched by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in state capital next Monday, Mar 8," said Nilambur village council president Aryadan Shoukat (son of veteran Congress legislator Aryadan Mohammed).

"According to a survey, there are more than 4,698 unmarried men and women in the village in the age group of 18 to 40. Of these, some 2,000 have registered with the websites so far. The registration is free," Shoukat said.

The idea started almost two years back when the council of the village was conducting a survey to find out the number of people who had no house of their own.

According to survey, they found that 25 percent of those belonging to the lower strata of the society had no house of their own because they had to sell it to marry off their daughters.

OneIndia News