- By Shailvee Tiwari
- Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:00 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Viral Reddit Post: Even after more than six decades of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, dowry cases in India continue to surface every now and then, leaving people shocked at how deep-rooted this custom still is. A recent Reddit post has once again highlighted this harsh reality, this time with an unexpected twist that left netizens stunned. The story was shared by a Reddit user named ‘Ichizaya’, who wrote about his cousin’s bizarre marriage rejection. According to him, his cousin, a 27-year-old well-settled man, was searching for a suitable match. He was financially stable, owned luxury items like a BMW M340i and came from a family with real estate, restaurants, pubs and ancestral property.
On the other side, the girl he matched with was described as 'smart, career-focused, with good family values.' Both families were ready for the alliance. Things, however, took a strange turn when the girl’s father brought up dowry. Despite the groom-to-be politely refusing every offer, including a Range Rover and even a duplex flat, the father kept insisting. Shockingly, despite multiple refusals, the girl’s father ultimately rejected the match altogether.
His reasoning? He allegedly believed that “a high-value man knows his worth. If he’s refusing dowry, there must be some defect in him.” To drive home his point, he even gave an unusual example: “Xiaomi/Vivo phones are 15k-20k, but people still pay over a lakh for iPhones because they’re valuable.” The post concluded with the Redditor saying that while his cousin might have “dodged a bullet,” the mindset behind this rejection left many speechless.
Watch The Viral Post Here:
My cousin got rejected because he refused to take dowry
byu/Ichizaya inThirtiesIndia
The post quickly gained attention online, crossing 4,000 views within a day. Most people who came across it couldn’t believe how, in 2025, refusing dowry could still be seen as a flaw rather than a virtue.
"Sometimes, dowry is a bargaining chip if things turn sour. And for people who have money, they want something else to hold that upper hand, which is what seems to be the case here," a user wrote. "Bro should have replied back like this. 'Why you offering me a dowry? Is this girl a defective one? Like compensating for something that she missed from being a perfect girl'," a second user wrote.
"He was offering dowry so that if things go south and in most cases like these they do, the bride can then file cases of dowry harassment and extract a huge alimony. So a 40-50 lakh investment can fetch them 4-5 crores in a few years. Your cousin really dodged a bullet," wrote a third user. "Bhai, yehihai society ki thinking..I am a Grade B officer in the government. I had to face this situation, and I declined dowry. As soon as I declined, people used to cancel on me. Bhai aram se mango tbhi ijat hogi," added a fourth user.