By Jiwachha Yadav, Lahan, Feb. 28: A huge amount of money is being spent on lavish weddings and dowries in State 2.

A prime example of this is a wedding recently held in Lahan where Rs. 800,000 was spent just for the tent set-up and decoration.

A large tent was pitched right next to the western wall of the Area Police Office, Lahan, for a local wedding. The tent was so extravagant that everyone thought it was for a festival.

The denizens of the area believed that the tent and big fat wedding wasn’t sending a right message, especially against the backdrop of the State’s campaign to create a dowry-free society.

Yet, upon inquiring, it was discovered that the police office had authorised pitching the grand tent, overlooking its great cost.

“People are spending huge amounts on weddings which, in turn, is linked to exchanges of huge dowries,” stated Renu Yadav, a women’s rights activist. “We were hopeful about the State government’s efforts to eradicate dowry from the society but this recent trend of immodest weddings has worried us.”

In the last few years, Lahan has witnessed three grand weddings where only the party tent costed more than Rs. 1 million. Social activists claim that the authorities’ inaction in stopping such weddings was inadvertently promoting and spreading social evil.

In addition to tents, people are also spending hundreds of thousands on special drone photography, high-end cinematography and large buffets, which questions the existence of various laws regulating weddings and other social events.

Such big fat celebration also goes against the spirit of the State government’s ‘Save Daughters, Educate Daughters’ campaign.

“It is not a good sign to see over-the-top weddings because they encourage others to copy them as a status symbol,” expressed Dinesh Yadav, leader of Lahan’s civil society, “And big weddings often entail people asking and giving big dowries.”

“People should be restraining their weddings and simplifying their traditions, but instead we see a rise in boastful events like these,” he said.

Yadav expressed his worry that the society was heading towards an accident. “The more educated a person is, the more dowry he demands; the richer a family is, the bigger wedding they desire; this is pushing our society towards a catastrophe.”

Sunil Kumar Sah, lawyer and human rights activist, said, “The National Criminal (Code) Act 2017 criminalises dowry and discourages having large extravagant weddings, but they have not changed social practices.”

Measures like having to mention the bride and groom’s birth date on the card, submitting a list of expenses to the local government and the police office, encouraging daytime weddings and short ceremonies with minimal attendees should be strictly enacted, otherwise the problem will become too big to contain, he said.

Sariyar Chaudhari, Deputy Mayor of Lahan Municipality, also argued for the formulation and implementation of strict legal codes and claimed that such unnecessary expenses were a hindrance to the society’s overall prosperity.

Highlighting the need for people to take out loans or go for foreign employment in order to pay for their daughters’ and sisters’ dowries, Magain Kamait, member of the State 2 Nepal Communist Party (NCP) stressed on the need to include the aspect of social awareness in the current ‘Save Daughters, Educate Daughters’ campaign.

Meanwhile, Chief of Area Police Office, Lahan Kamal Raj Bhandari, said that the police could only act on formal complaints.

“We cannot intervene someone’s wedding based on our assumption that they may have taken or given dowry, we need the victims to come forward for us to investigate,” he said.