Giving an online dimension to its anti-dowry campaign, the Nilambur village panchayat in Malappuram district has launched a matrimonial website for those willing to marry without taking or giving dowry.

A collaborative venture of the panchayat and women?s right NGO Mahila Samakhya Society, the website is exclusively meant to promote dowry-free marriages.

Anybody from any corner of the world can log on to www.dowryfreemarriage.com register their name and upload their profile free of cost.

Apart from helping find partners, the site also provides a platform to hold discussions on issues like dowry, marriage customs, gender justice and matrimonial property rights.

It will also serve as a window to form interactive online communities of people sharing similar views on it, said Panchayat president Aryadan Shoukath.

"It is our attempt to enlist more people to our campaign.As websites are global media capable of spreading socially relevant messages worldwide, we have opted that," Shoukat, also a film producer and scriptwriter, told PTI.

Since the project was announced, 1635 people have already registered. Their profiles can be uploaded just after the official launch of the site this week by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, Shoukath said. .