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Crime or Custom?

This article highlights the reasons behind the practice of dowry in rural Bangladesh. Despite being prohibited by Islam and the civil law, people do not abstain from the practice. Hypergamy, empowerment and social values underlie the theoretical framework for analysing the findings. This study finds both positive and negative motivations such as daughters’ well-being, gaining higher status in society and social values undergirding women’s subordination, women’s dependent status, etc., behind an escalating practice of dowry.