Girl responds to dowry demand on wedding day\u00a0<\/strong>
\nFarzana Yasmin, who caused waves throughout the country last Friday by repudiating her husband right at the wedding after her in-laws demanded dowry, has said she wants everyone to take lessons from the incident.
\n\u201cDowry has become a cancer of society,\u201d she told BBC Bangla Service yesterday. \u201cI’ve read in newspapers about it and have always wondered why this happens.\u201d
\nShe called upon all to take note that girls can rise against this social menace.
\n\u201cWhen it happened right before my eyes, something happened inside me. I felt like speaking up against it and doing something about it.\u201d
\nFarzana, who recently completed her masters from Eden College, Dhaka, yesterday narrated to the BBC the details of the incident which occurred in Borguna on Friday.
\n\u201cEverything was complete,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were about to take me to the wedding car.\u201d
\nShe realised something was wrong while seated on the stage. \u201cI tried to understand what it was. But as I was the bride I remained on the stage while people were taking photographs.\u201d
\nAmidst the commotion, she heard her in-laws demanding \u201cgifts\u201d. \u201cThey said, ‘Where are the gifts?’ They didn’t call it dowry.\u201d
\n\u201cMy elder sister reacted, ‘We are going to give you our girl; nothing else was promised’,\u201d said Farzana.
\nAt one point, an aunt of her just-wed husband Shawkat Ali Khan came to her and said, \u201cWe are going to keep this girl hanging for five years. If we don’t receive a TV and refrigerator, we won’t take her home.\u201d
\nFarzana said, \u201cI was dumbfounded! I asked my husband, who sat beside me, ‘What is this?’\u201d
\nHe replied, \u201cMy aunt’s words are my words\u201d.
\n\u201cAunt’s words are your words? What is that supposed to mean? Then it’s not possible for me to remain here,\u201d she told her husband.
\n\u201cI’d rather leave than stay with people who ask for dowry at a wedding.\u201d
\nFarzana left the stage and changed back into her usual clothes. Her family members and neighbours rushed to her, asking her why she had done that.
\n\u201cI explained everything to them, and asked them what decision I should take,\u201d she told the BBC.
\n\u201cI said I’d rather commit suicide than go with that man, that rogue of a man.\u201d
\nAlthough her family members, friends and neighbours found it difficult to support her decision in the beginning, they later appreciated the move.
\nFarzana Yasmin will soon take legal steps to file for divorce.
\n\u201cI have no regrets,\u201d she told the BBC. \u201cMaybe I haven’t changed the lives of ten people, but I want people to take the lesson that girls can do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

-With The Daily Star<\/span> input<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Girl responds to dowry demand on wedding day\u00a0 Farzana Yasmin, who caused waves throughout the country last Friday by repudiating her husband right at the wedding after her in-laws demanded dowry, has said she wants everyone to take lessons from the incident. \u201cDowry has become a cancer of society,\u201d she told BBC Bangla Service yesterday. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[7183],"yoast_head":"\n