While India is on its way towards the empowerment of women, we can still quote innumerable instances of how brutally women are treated in some parts of our nation even after years of achieving independence.
There are illogical practices followed in India which immediately signifies, how women have been harassed sexually and reduced to mere inanimate objects of trade. One such disgusting ritual followed in one of the villages of India is the “Dhadicha Pratha.”
We are very much aware of renting a house, car, room, and many other things. But how many of us are aware of the fact that certain Indian villages have a custom of renting a woman as a wife? Difficult to believe? After reading the present article, one will believe that everything pathetic is possible in a patriarchal society.
Bride markets are very popular in countries like Bulgaria, Burma, Pakistan, and North Korea. It is shocking to know that India has also joined the club. India’s Shivpuri district situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh is lately making headlines for renting girls to become wives of men based on the criteria of virginity and aesthetics.
WHAT IS THE DHADICHA PRATHA ALL ABOUT?
The evil practice of renting wives has been in existence for decades in the Shivpuri village of Madhya Pradesh. This custom is known as Dadhicha.
Every year a market is set up in the village where it is customary for families to rent their daughters or wives. Men participate in the market and choose women for themselves.
It is surprising to know that parents/ guardians voluntarily rent their girls to men. It is also the case where married husband rent their wives to other men. The wives of the husbands are given on lease to wealthy businessmen who do not have a wife or a partner. The deal is signed on a stamp paper of an amount as meager as Rupees ten, fifty, or hundred. Every year thousands of deals are finalized.
The rising issue of female infanticide has significantly led to the reduction in the female sex ratio in India. This has consequently affected the men specifically in regions of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh as they are unable to get brides for themselves. Thus, they resort to buying or renting women from different parts of the country particularly from the impoverished regions of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar to carry forward the lineage of their family. The main reason why families agree to rent or sell their girls is finance and also as a means to escape paying hefty dowries. The deals are usually carried through a broker who keeps the bigger share of the amount for himself and leaves the smaller ones for the family.
HOW ARE THE GIRLS PRICED?
In Dhadicha it is usually the virgin girls from the age group of 8 to 15 years who are preferred more over married women. The bride is priced as per the hour/day/week/month/year, i.e the period for which the man wants her to be his wife. Once the deal ends the contract is renewed by the same man or a new contract is made with other man and the bride is rented to a new person.
Generally, the deal is locked for Rs. 15,000/- to 25,000/- per bride. The younger the bride, the higher the price is proposed by the family. Sometimes the price is so excessive that it goes up to 2 lakhs if the bride is beautiful, physically attractive, and a virgin. Non-Virgin girls are priced for Rupees 10,000/- to 15,000/- based on their age, skin color, and the number of men they have slept with before as a part of their contractual marriages.
