Grand wedding is more important than a daughter's life - a true story

Big fat weddings are the heart and soul of Indians. The ultimate life mission for Indians is getting married - especially for women. Unmarried Indian women are often looked down upon and pitied as though they are affected by some kind of disability. Grand weddings are a status symbol - how many times we've heard the line, "Indha kalyanatha 10 varusathukku marakka mudiyama jam jam nu pannanum," in Tamil movies?

Thus far, I have heard of Indian parents taking debts to conduct daughters' marriage. Today, I heard of Indian parents who thought spending money to cure a sick daughter isn't a priority but her sister's lavish wedding is. Let the elder daughter die and use the money they have to conduct her younger sister's wedding grandly.

Truth is stranger than fiction. I don't know how the doctors reacted or what disease the girl had. But, apparently, after learning that the disease cannot be cured completely, her parents decided to stop the treatment and plainly let her die and their saved money be used to conduct her younger sister's wedding in a big way.

The girl died at the age of 19 literally because her parents decided not to give treatment to her because apparently, she's just a liability that is very much dispensable. The money they saved by not spending for her treatment to prolong her life as long as possible is to be used to marry off her sister - possibly for dowry demand.

Only female babies and foetuses were killed thus far to avoid dowry paying. Now, it has extended to let a sentient female human being die because she isn't worth enough to have around because she is ill and is an impediment for the grand marriage of her younger sister.

Imagine how the girl must have felt when her parents made this decision of letting her die. How can her younger sister feel happy on her wedding day with the knowledge that the event is done by letting her sister die?

Is your culture and society more important than your children? Don't girls have the right to live? If it was a boy, would the parents let him die?

This is what happens when your culture and societal expectations blindfold basic humanity and compassion.

I am truly at loss of words. I can't believe people like this exist - their thought process is something I can never fathom. On second thoughts, I don't want to fathom such pagan madness called Indian culture and Indian society that don't respect individuality, choices and lives of women.

When honour killings are happening, when there are women like Kousalya, when a lawyer can say openly that if his daughter behaves in a way that is dishonourable, he will take her to his farmhouse and burn her alive, this kind of parental cruelty isn't unbelievable.

It's culture making good, sensible people evil and sadistic.