8 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the death of the woman to the reversioners of her husband. The Bill, here again, introduces two changes. It converts this limited estate into
an absolute estate just as the male when he inherits gets an absolute estate in the property that he inherits and secondly, it abolishes the right of the reversioners to claim the property after the widow.
An important provision which is ancillary to the rights of women to inherit property contained in this Bill is a provision which relates to Dowry. All members of the House know what a scandalous affair this dowry is; how, for instance, girls who bring enormous lot of property from their parents either by way of dowry or stridhan or gift are treated,
nonetheless, with utter contempt, tyranny and oppression. The Bill provides in my judgment one of the most salutary provisions, namely, that this properly which is given as dowry to a girl on the occasion of
her marriage shall be treated as a trust property, the use of which will inure to the woman and she is entitled to claim that property when she comes to the age of 18, so that neither her husband nor the relations
of her husband will have any interest in that property; nor will they have any opportunity to waste that property and make her helpless for the rest of her life.
Coming to the provisions relating to maintenance, there is mostly nothing new in this part of the Bill. The Bill prescribes that the
dependents of a deceased shall be entitled to claim maintenance from those who inherit his property either under the rules of intestate succession or who inherit the property under his will. There are 11
different kinds of dependants, enumerated in this Bill. I believe, at least speaking for myself, it is an unfortunate thing that even a concubine is included in the category of dependants, but there it is; it is a matter
for consideration. The liability to maintenance is cast upon those who take the estate of the deceased. As I said, there is nothing very new in this part of the Bill.
There is another part of the Bill which is important and it relates to the rights of a wife to claim separate maintenance when she lives
separate from her husband. Generally, under the provisions of the Hindu law, a wife is not entitled to claim maintenance from her husband if she does not live with him in his house. The Bill, however, recognises
that there are undoubtedly circumstances where if the wife has lived away from the husband, it must be for causes beyond her control and