Sons Inherit Everything and Daughters Get Nothing
In the landscape of Indian families, one of the ugliest realities is the quiet but devastating injustice that daughters face when family assets are divided. Sons are often showered with land, homes, businesses, and money, while daughters are treated as outsiders in the very families that raised them. Parents, who are expected to embody fairness and love, often betray their daughters when wealth and property come into question. This partiality is not only archaic and discriminatory—it is also cruel, humiliating, and destructive.
The history of this
injustice runs deep in Indian society, with religion, customs, and patriarchal
convenience used as excuses to deprive women of what is rightfully theirs. The
Mary Roy case is a landmark reminder of how entrenched this discrimination has
been and how long daughters had to wait to receive even a basic recognition of
equality.
The Everyday Betrayal
The cruelty of
parents in showing partiality towards sons begins early. From childhood itself,
sons are groomed to inherit, while daughters are made to feel
temporary—destined to be “given away” in marriage. Parents justify their bias
by saying, “Daughters will belong to another family,” as if that absolves them
of responsibility towards their own flesh and blood.
When the time comes
to divide assets, daughters are either ignored completely or “settled” with
token amounts or jewellery, while sons are handed over lands, houses, and
businesses. Parents often cloak this injustice under the excuse of dowry,
claiming that “we already gave you during marriage,” conveniently forgetting
that dowry is an evil social practice, not a legitimate share of inheritance.
The result? Families
are torn apart. Sisters, who once shared the same roof and meals, are reduced
to beggars at the doors of their own homes. Parents, instead of protecting
their daughters’ rights, often become the very perpetrators of discrimination.
Mary Roy and the Legal Battle for Daughters
The injustice became
most visible in the case of Mary Roy, a Syrian Christian woman from Kerala,
India. In her community, women were denied equal inheritance rights under the
Travancore Christian Succession Act of 1916, which said that daughters could
receive only one-fourth of a son’s share—or a maximum of ₹5,000—while sons
inherited the lion’s share of property.
Mary Roy refused to
accept this absurd injustice. She filed a case in the Supreme Court, demanding
equality in inheritance for Christian women in Kerala. In 1986, the Supreme
Court delivered a historic judgment in her favor, ruling that Christian women in
Kerala had the same inheritance rights as men under the Indian Succession Act
of 1925.
This was a
thunderbolt against centuries of discrimination. It exposed how law, custom,
and religion were being twisted to rob daughters of their rightful inheritance.
Yet, despite the victory in court, Mary Roy’s personal battle for her share of
property dragged on for decades, reflecting the social resistance to equality
even after the law was clear.
Why Parents’ Partiality is Cruel
It is important to
understand that this partiality is not a harmless tradition—it is cruel and
destructive on multiple levels.
It humiliates daughters: To be told, “You don’t deserve as
much as your brother,” is nothing less than a slap in the face. It tells a
daughter that her blood, sweat, and love for her family are less valuable than
a son’s. It reduces her to a second-class child in her own home.
It destroys family
bonds: No injustice cuts deeper than when parents betray their daughters.
Sisters who once shared the same parents are forced into legal battles with
brothers. Families are torn apart in courtrooms, not because daughters are
greedy, but because they were denied fairness.
It reinforces
patriarchy: By denying daughters their share, parents feed the larger social
structure of patriarchy, where women are seen as dependent on men. Sons grow up
entitled, while daughters are left vulnerable, often forced to rely on their
husband’s family for survival.
It exposes hypocrisy
of parents: Parents who claim to love all children equally expose their
hypocrisy when property division comes. They reveal that their love is
conditional and that their daughters are ultimately outsiders in the family
tree.
The False Excuses Parents Make
Parents often use flimsy excuses to justify their favouritism.
“We gave dowry during marriage.” But dowry is illegal,
immoral, and oppressive. It cannot replace a daughter’s rightful inheritance.
“She will go to
another house.” A daughter may live in another home after marriage, but that
does not erase her birthright. Blood ties are not erased by marriage rituals.
“Sons have to look
after the parents.” This argument is outdated and false. In countless families,
it is the daughters who care for aging parents, while sons often neglect them.
Yet, when it comes to inheritance, the same daughters are told they deserve
nothing.
“We have to keep
property within the family name.” This is a meaningless excuse, rooted in pride
and patriarchy. Property does not carry honour if it is built on injustice.
The Aftermath of
Injustice
The cruelty of parental partiality creates
scars that last for generations.
Women lose security. Daughters who are denied
inheritance are left without financial security, especially if marriages
collapse or husbands die.
Families collapse into litigation. Courts across India are
clogged with inheritance disputes, most of them involving sisters fighting
brothers for a fair share.
Bitterness spreads. Parents’ favoritism
destroys relationships among siblings, creating bitterness that never heals.
Cycles of discrimination continue. Sons who
receive all the property often repeat the same injustice with their own
children.
The Harsh Truth: Parents Are Responsible
It is easy to blame
“society” or “tradition,” but the harsh truth is this: parents are personally
responsible for this injustice. Every father and mother who denies their
daughter a rightful share is guilty of betrayal. They are not passive victims
of custom—they are active participants in discrimination.
Parents must ask
themselves: What legacy are they leaving behind? Property may remain in the
family name, but their legacy will be one of betrayal and cruelty.
Lessons from the
Mary Roy Case
The Mary Roy case
should have ended the debate forever. It proved that denying daughters
inheritance is not just morally wrong but legally indefensible. Yet, even
today, decades after the 1986 judgment, countless families continue to practice
the same injustice.
The lesson from Mary
Roy’s struggle is clear: laws can be written in books, but unless families
change their mindset, daughters will continue to suffer. True justice is not
delivered in courtrooms but in the decisions parents make inside their homes.
What Must Change
Parents must act with fairness. Daughters
deserve equal shares in assets—not as charity, but as a matter of right.
Brothers must stand
up for sisters. Sons who stay silent when their sisters are denied property are
complicit in the crime.
Society must shame
discrimination. Families that deny daughters should be socially condemned, not
celebrated.
Legal awareness must spread. Many daughters
don’t even know their rights. Awareness campaigns are essential.
Religious and cultural excuses must be
discarded. No faith or tradition can justify injustice.
Conclusion: Stop the Betrayal
The betrayal of
daughters by parents is one of the darkest stains on Indian families. It is an
injustice that cuts deeper than poverty or hardship because it comes from those
who are supposed to protect, love, and cherish. The Mary Roy case was a landmark,
but the spirit of that judgment must enter every household.
Parents must stop
hiding behind tradition, dowry, or excuses of family honor. They must realize
that love without fairness is hypocrisy. A daughter who is denied her rightful
share is not just deprived of property—she is deprived of dignity, belonging, and
justice.
The harsh truth is
this: parents who discriminate in inheritance fail as parents. They may leave
behind wealth, but they leave a legacy of betrayal and broken families. The
only path forward is equality—equal love, equal rights, equal shares. Anything
less is cruelty disguised as tradition.
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