“I request you to have this site blocked immediately and initiate action against the owners/developers of the website and the agency which is hosting this website,” the minister wrote, as reported by PTI. (File)
Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi wrote a letter Tuesday to the Information & Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asking to block a website which claims to calculate the dowry amount for prospective grooms and take action against its developers.
Maneka Gandhi pointed out in the letter that the website, http://www.dowrycalculator.com, is not only shameful but is illegal as it promoted dowry.
On filling out categories like, age, caste, profession, monthly income, skin colour etc., of the prospective groom, the website calculates the amount of dowry the potential groom can expect to receive.
“I request you to have this site blocked immediately and initiate action against the owners/developers of the website and the agency which is hosting this website,” the minister wrote, as reported by PTI.
Taking a legal course of action, Gandhi said that she had put in a request with the Secretary in the ministry of WCD to initiate proceedings under the Dowry Prohibition Act in this matter.
Dowry is a punishable offence in India under The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
The dowry calculator website begins with a statement, “dedicated to all the match making aunties of India”.
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