The Koran also makes it clear that a wife had the right to ask for a divorce from her husband on the same grounds on which a husband could ask to divorce his wife. ... A wife was to eat only after her husband had finished, and she had to eat from his dirty plate. ... When women in India married, it was customary for their families to give a dowry to the girl's husband and his family. ... Also, Indian husbands cut off the ears and nose of their wives if they left the house without their prior permission. ... The ideal role model for this custom was Sita, Ram's wife, who was requir...

• Word Count: 1848
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

If she is unable to bring sufficient dowry, this woman is therefore harassed and all control is issued to a husband. ... It was a changing mindset that led to such atrocities; as having a girl became a burden, more work than it was worth.7 The inhumane experience of Sati best personifies the injustice, where the wife burns herself alive in the funeral pyre of her husband. ... 'On September 4, 1987 in the northern village of Deorala, Roop Kanwar learned that her husband had passed away. ... After being found by her husband's family, she was dragged to the funeral pyre, where her hus...

• Word Count: 2806
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Those in higher social castes are expected to have virtuous values and ideals and expected to behave in a different way. ... These texts graphically depict women as subservient, serving and needing attention and so far as illustrates the role of females as a wife to bear her husband's children (Van Ham, 2008). ... Suttee (literally 'virtuous woman') is a sacrifice a widow was supposed to make voluntarily by which was burnt on her husband's funeral pyre or otherwise live in disgrace for the rest of her life (Whiting, 2005). Although the practice of Suttee was officially s...

• Word Count: 1545
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate