Sir: My maid did everything she could to gather dowry for her daughter’s marriage. She wished to make her daughter’s in-laws contented and satisfied, yet after the marriage her daughter was being bad mouthed by her greedy in-laws. This continuous bad mouthing eventually led the young girl to commit suicide. I have shared only one case but I am sure there are scores of such occurrences happening in our society, which highlights a prevailing social disease, i.e. dowry. Not that our poor people are the only victims of this sickness, it is equally common amongst the educated and upper class families of our country. Sadly, if women are unable to produce a massive dowry, many times they are simply rejected no matter how beautiful and well educated they are. It needs to be understood that it is not a matter of rejection only, rather, the consequences of these refusals lead to mental illnesses, trauma and self-loathing, at times strong enough to turn into suicidal cases. Moreover, women are beaten, stoned and are the usual victims of acid throwing in a culture that sees them as commodities. I consider this culture of dowry as a major crime. Strong actions must be taken by the government where laws should be implemented in order to minimise the dowry crisis against families that enforce this burden upon poor and helpless people. For our part, we should raise our voices against such social injustices through social networking sites, print and electronic media. Our personal lives are being modernised so why not our customs too. ZEE NAZAR Karachi