| Angry Brides | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Shaadi.com |
| Platform(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Angry Brides is an online flash-based browser game on Facebook. It was launched by the matchmaking site Shaadi.com to help raise awareness of dowry harassment in India. [1]
In India, dowry [2] is the payment in cash or other valuable property given to a bridegroom's family along with the bride. A typical dowry may include cash and jewellery. [3] Requests for, and payment of, dowry were prohibited under the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) in Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498a of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but the practice still continues, illegally. [4]
If a demanded payment is not made, the groom's family might harass or even kill the bride, often by setting her clothing on fire. The Indian police report that every year they receive over 2,500 reports of bride-burning. [5] The National Crime Records Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, reports that there were about 8,172 dowry death cases registered in India in 2008. [6] This represents an increase of 14.4% over the 1998 level (7,146). [7] According to Ram Bhamidi, senior vice president of Shaadi.com, the Facebook game was developed to raise awareness of the issue. [8]
The landing page of the game shows an eight-armed woman, clad in red and resembling the powerful female Hindu goddess Durga. [9] Underneath her is a caption: "A woman will give you strength, care and all the love you need ... NOT dowry!" [10] The game involves throwing various common household items like frying pans, rolling pins, broomsticks, and stiletto heels. [11] In Angry Brides, players strike target grooms who demand a large dowry. [12] Each hit lowers the amount demanded and if the player manages to bring the dowry to zero, they can proceed to the next level. [13] The dowry-demanding grooms are portrayed as a doctor, an engineer or a pilot. The dowry demand starts at ₹ 1.5 millions (about US$30,000 or GBP18,000) and goes down with each successful hit. [14]
The game was originally meant to be played on Facebook, but Shaadi.com announced its intentions of bringing it out on other platforms citing its success. [15] The page got 270,000 fans on Facebook [16] who believed that it would help spread awareness about various social evils. [17]
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom, or his family, to the bride, or her family, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride, or her family, to the groom, or his family. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control.
In Islam, a mahr is the obligation, in the form of money or possessions paid by the groom, to the bride at the time of Islamic marriage. While the mahr is often money, it can also be anything agreed upon by the bride such as jewelry, home goods, furniture, a dwelling or some land. Mahr is typically specified in the marriage contract signed upon marriage.
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some executed by a husband personally and some executed by a religious court on behalf of a plaintiff wife who is successful in her legal divorce petition for valid cause. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women.
Bride burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. A category of dowry death, bride-burning occurs when a young woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family's refusal to pay additional dowry. The wife is typically doused with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and set alight, leading to death by fire. Kerosene is often used as the cooking fuel for dangerous small petrol stoves, so it allows the claim that the crime was an accident. It is most common in India and has been a major problem there since at least 1993.
Dowry deaths are deaths of married women who are murdered or driven to suicide over disputes about dowry. Dowry deaths are found predominantly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Weddings in India vary according to the region, the religion, the community and the personal preferences of the bride and groom. They are festive occasions in India, and in most cases celebrated with extensive decorations, colour, dresses, music, dance, costumes and rituals that depend on the community, region and religion of the bride and the groom, as well as their preferences. India celebrates about 10 million weddings per year, of which about 80% are Hindu weddings.
The men's rights movement in India is composed of various independent men's rights organisations in India. Proponents of the movement support the introduction of gender-neutral legislation and repeal of laws that they consider are biased against men.
Muslim marriage and Islamic wedding customs are traditions and practices that relate to wedding ceremonies and marriage rituals prevailing within the Muslim world. Although Islamic marriage customs and relations vary depending on country of origin and government regulations, both Muslim men and women from around the world are guided by Islamic laws and practices specified in the Quran. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women.
Groom kidnapping, colloquially known as Pakaruah shaadi or Jabaria shaadi, is a phenomenon in the western parts of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh states, more prominent in Munger and Dumka wherein eligible bachelors are abducted by the bride's family and later forcibly married, to get men with better education and/or richer men. Considering the traditional regard for the marriage sacrament, most such marriages are not annulled. Additionally, the groom may suffer fake criminal charges under Indian dowry law, and end up fighting lengthy legal battles.
Shaadi.com is an Indian online wedding service founded in 1997. Its core market is India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, but the company operates globally, with offices in Canada, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Domestic violence in India includes any form of violence suffered by a person from a biological relative but typically is the violence suffered by a woman by male members of her family or relatives. Although Men also suffer Domestic violence, the law under IPC 498A specifically protects only women. Specifically only a woman can file a case of domestic violence. According to a National Family and Health Survey in 2005, total lifetime prevalence of domestic violence was 33.5% and 8.5% for sexual violence among women aged 15–49. A 2014 study in The Lancet reports that although the reported sexual violence rate in India is among the lowest in the world, the large population of India means that the violence affects 27.5 million women over their lifetimes. However, an opinion survey among experts carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked India as the most dangerous country in the world for women.
Rita Banerji (1967) is an author, photographer and gender activist from India. Her non-fiction book Sex and Power: Defining History, Shaping Societies was published in 2008. She is the founder of the 50 Million Missing online campaign to raise awareness of female gendercide in India.
Female foeticide in India is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal methods. A research by Pew Research Center based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000-2019. The research found that 86.7% of these foeticides were by Hindus, followed by Sikhs with 4.9%, and Muslims with 6.6%. The research also indicated an overall decline in preference for sons in the time period.
Violence against women in Tamil Nadu includes molestation, abduction, dowry-related violence, and domestic violence. The police recorded 1,130 cases during the first seven months in 2013, compared to 860 for the corresponding period in 2012. In Usilampatti Taluk, around 6,000 female children were killed in a span of 2 years during 1987–88, accounting to the single largest instance of recorded female infanticide.
Violence against women in India refers to physical or sexual violence committed against a woman, typically by a man. Common forms of violence against women in India include acts such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, and murder. In order to be considered violence against women, the act must be committed solely because the victim is female. Most typically, these acts are committed by men as a result of the long-standing gender inequalities present in the country.
The Nisha Sharma dowry case was an anti-dowry lawsuit in India that represented how IPC 498A law can be misused. It began in 2003 when Nisha Sharma accused her prospective groom, Munish Dalal, of demanding dowry. The case got much coverage from Indian and international media. Nisha was portrayed as a youth icon and a role model for other women. The case ended in 2012, after the court acquitted all accused. The court found that Nisha had fabricated the dowry charges to wriggle out of the wedding.
The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the groom, his parents and his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Dowry is referred to dahez in Hindi and as jahez in Urdu.
Bride price, bride-dowry, bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dowry is equivalent to dowry paid to the groom in some cultures, or used by the bride to help establish the new household, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. Some cultures may practice both simultaneously. Many cultures practiced bride dowry prior to existing records.
Bride buying in India is the practice of forced arranged marriages through human trafficking. Brides are commonly referred to as "paro" or "molki" within this framework. The brides are sold by their parents to human traffickers who transport and sell them within relatively wealthier regions of Northern India. The desire for a male child and subsequent female infanticide has resulted in a significantly lowered sex ratio within India, creating an abundance of unmarried men in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Western UP. These men resort to purchasing inter-region women from impoverished communities mainly to continue their family lineage. The key motivation for low-income families to sell their daughter is to receive financial compensation and avoid having to pay a dowry. Major sources are the impoverished parts of Northeast India (Assam), Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.
Mohammed Saleem is an environmental activist, environmental campaigner, National Geographic educator and explorer. He is the co-founder of Environment Conservation Group, a nonprofit NGO based out of Coimbatore, Tamilnadu that works on environmental conservation, advocacy and educational awareness. He has dedicated his entire life to the cause of environmental and wildlife conservation. He is also an ardent birder.