KARIMNAGAR:In what could be termed a move to inspire young minds to eradicate the social evil called dowry, a group of youngsters in Nawabpet village of Chigurumamidi mandal have decided to launch a campaign against the dowry menace.
Unlike the so-called social workers who preach against dowry and demand it in private, these youth are motivating married men to return the money they took as dowry at the time of marriage. Christened, ‘Katnam Vaapasi’ (repay dowry amount), the movement has been successful to inspire 10 persons to return the money they took as dowry.
To make it easy for the men to return the money, they are urging them to give the amount in instalments.
On Wednesday, about 10 persons, some of them married five years ago, returned the dowry they took during the time of marriage to the parents of their spouses.
It was Husnabad police, who inspired the youngsters to join hands and fight the dowry menace, as dowry harassment cases were on the rise in the area. Five dowry deaths were reported causing concern among the social activists.
Husnabad circle inspector G Sadan Kumar took the initiative to create awareness against the social evil and motivated the village youth to fight the menace during a meeting in the village.
Boini Sadaiah was one among the youth who came forward to return the dowry. “Women in our village are suffering a lot due to harassment by their husbands and in-laws in the name of dowry. To put an end to this social evil, we have decided to launch this novel initiative,” Sadaiah said.
The response to the call was overwhelming and women congregated in large numbers to witness the event. They expressed happiness over the drive against dowry which they hoped will bring peace to their lives.
Cultural programmes were also held to create awareness against dowry which evoked good response among the villagers.
Another person, who wished anonymity, told Express that it was a burden on him to return the dowry in a single instalment. “But, we want to take forward the initiative so we are returning the amount in instalments. I have already given the first instalment,” he said adding that the message should spread so that dowry gets eradicated from the society.