Slavery in The 21st Century

VII. Bride Buying
Bride-Purchasing or Bride-Buying is the industry or trade of “purchasing a
bride” to become property and at times as property that can be resold or repurchased
for reselling. Bride-purchasing or bride-selling is practiced by bride-sellers and bridebuyers
in parts of countries such as India and China, among others. The practice is
described as a form of “marriage of convenience” but is illegal in many countries in the
world.
India
Bride-buying is an old practice in many regions in India. Bride-purchasing is common in
the states of India such as Haryana, Jharkhand, and Punjab. According to CNN-IBN,
women are “bought, sold, trafficked, raped and married off without consent” across
some parts of India. Bride-purchases are usually outsourced from Bihar, Assam, and
West Bengal. The price of the bride (locally known as paros in Jharkhand), if bought
from the sellers, may cost between 4,000 and 30,000 Indian rupees, the equivalent of
US$88 to US$660. The brides' parents are normally paid an average of 500 to 1,000
Indian rupees (around US$11 to US$22). The need to buy a bride is because of the low
ratio of females to males. Such low ratio in turn was caused by the preference by most
Indian parents to have sons instead of daughters, and female foeticide. In 2006,
according to BBC News, there were around 861 women for every 1,000 men in
Haryana; and the national ratio in India as a whole was 927 women for every 1,000
men. The women are not only purchased as brides or wives but also to work as farm
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