Page 114 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

The Indian Legal System 89

distribution (Agarwal 1994: 8). However, these redistribution
programmes were based on the idea of a unitary household led by a
male. The only exceptions to this principle were in cases where there
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were no adult males and a woman, in general a widow, was considered
head of the household. The model of a unitary household led by a male
was also reproduced in communities where the traditional inheritance
systems were bilateral or matrilineal.
Although land reforms were not necessarily adjusted to meet
women’s needs and realities, other laws were enacted to protect them.
For example, the introduction of the Dowry Prohibition Act in 1961,
followed in 1984 by the special provision in the penal code establish-
ing a presumption of culpability of the in-law family when a bride dies
within the first seven years of her marriage. This ‘group’ culpability is
reminiscent of the group punishments in case studies of the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries. However, the crime for ‘dowry death’ is
seldom punished mainly because of complex procedures, cost of legal
action, lack of awareness of women’s rights and numerous local ways
to solve conflicts (Bates, Unpublished).
The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, is another law aimed at the protec-
tion of women. Under this both daughters and widows have succession
rights in property. More precisely, it stipulates that widows have a right
to the acquired property of the deceased husband (in effect, property
acquired by the husband over his lifetime). His property should be
equally divided between his widow and their children. Widows seldom
resort to this law. Many economic and social obstacles (such as pres-
sures exercised by in-laws) prevent them from claiming their rights
under this Act (Basu 1999).
Lack of consideration of women in land reforms, as well as in other
legislations, does not correspond to the ideal of equality. It is an illus-
tration of the clash between Western legal concepts and long-standing
local practices.

Local Variations: Widows’ Understanding of their Rights and
Community Norms in Rural Maharashtra
In case of interstate succession, the Hindu Succession Act of 1956
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confers to the widow a succession right in her husband’s property.
For example, if a Hindu dies leaving a son, daughter and widow, the
property will be divided in three equal shares.