The Hyderabad-based platform IdontwantDowry.com will host its 20th annual "Swayamvaram" matrimonial meet on December 7, continuing its mission to promote dowry-free marriages.
This year's event will be held virtually via the Zoom app, and will be organized by NKG Online from their Somajiguda office.
In earlier virtual editions the event received strong participation. For example, the 2020 Zoom meet saw about 200 participants along with their families.
IdontwantDowry.com was launched on April 2, 2006, by NKG Online in Hyderabad as a social business venture dedicated to eradicating the dowry system.
Over the past 19 years, the platform has brought together nearly 20,000 members committed to "I don't want dowry" ideals, and claims to have facilitated around 100 dowry-free marriages.
The events give like-minded individuals a chance to connect and discuss values, backgrounds and life goals.
Founder Satya Naresh, a web designer and social activist, has long championed the cause.
His opposition to dowry is deeply personal: his two elder sisters were married without dowry, and he was inspired to act after witnessing the impact of dowry demands on his friends' families.
Naresh pointed out that while dowry has been illegal in India since 1961, it continues to be practiced rampantly.
filed in:Social Welfare, Awareness Drives, Mass Marriages, Dowry