India set to cut down on how much families spend on weddings
India is set to clamp down on the amount poor families can spend on lavish weddings in a bid to reduce dowry-related crimes.
Campaigners believe that the pressure of hosting an expensive wedding are the cause of many dowry murders of new brides, as well as debt related suicides of farmers in rural areas of India.
They also believe that female foetuses are aborted because of fears of high-wedding costs, which is sometimes ten times their income.
The government have introduced the new measures that will check wedding costs, as well as how much low income groups can spend on wedding buffets and gifts.
A panel on India’s Dowry Prevention Act told the Telegraph that India was the most dangerous place to be born a girl.
“Introduction of ceilings, in terms of percentages of income on both gifts and marriage expenditure, needs to be considered,” they said.
The panel also estimated that there have been eight million abortions of female foetuses in India in the last decade.
