Partiality in families: How parents cheat their daughters while dividing family assets

 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.