Dowry is the most common unpleasant custom especially in rural areas of Bangladesh. Women are not only the victims of cruelty and torture for dowry, but also the bride’s children, family members and other in-laws are badly affected. Keeping in mind the above problems, the paper explores the existing practices and provisions of dowry, its nature, forms, causes and consequences in some part of rural Bangladesh. An empirical study was undertaken in the three selected union parishads namely Nizra, Ulpur and Durgapur of Gopalgonj Sadar Upazilla, Gopalgonj. Based on the research findings, the amount of dowry given ranged from Tk. 15000 to Tk. 45000. Though most of the bride and groom in rural Bangladesh are fully aware of the malpractice and even do not give consent to a dowry involved marriage, they are forced to accept the proposal. All groups of the respondents mentioned that loan from relatives, friends and others is the first method of mobilising money for dowry and the money of dowry is usually used by the groom for purchasing land, house and other properties; paying back loans; investment in small business; deposited for future; buying household articles and bribe for job security; etc. Besides these, parents of bride and groom, young men and local people’s justification for demanding dowry had been identified as ‘to set up a life of bride grooms’ and ‘to follow the tradition of the society’ respectively. On the other hand, young women identified the reason behind demanding dowry was ‘due to greed of bride’s share in parental property’. The article concludes that strict implementation of existing laws and rules and empowering women through education are the best measures of dowry prevention. This paper also suggests some ways and means to improve the overall situation of this bad practice-dowry.