Technically dowry is a gift given by a father to her daughter when she gets married. In-laws exploit this saying that once the girl "marries into a family", ev

Technically dowry is a gift given by a father to her daughter when she gets married. In-laws exploit this saying that once the girl "marries into a family", everything she owns now belongs to the family. I don't have an authoritative answer to your question, but I know that there are marriages where no dowry is involved at all.