17 women are killed in India everyday: deep rooted issues dowry deaths are about more than death.

Every month we come across gruesome news of some young woman, often newly married, found dead in her marital home. The depressingly familiar term a “dowry death” (Whether it’s a killing or suicide), re-establishes cultural wrongs. Though legally convenient, this word dangerously oversimplifies a complex social pathology. As Nikki Bhati’sdowry Kipling hasn’t even left the memory of masses, Today news of a techie who committed suicide due to dowry demands is in news.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 6,400 cases of dowry deaths were registered in 2022.  That translates to an average of 16 young women dying every single day and these are only the cases that are reported. The true numbers are certainly higher, given the tendency to record many such deaths as “suicides” or “accidents.”

This stark figure should jolt us into recognizing that dowry deaths are not rare aberrations; they are a structural, predictable outcome of the way Indian society treats women inside marriage. Behind these numbers lies not just the exchange of money or gifts, but a web of patriarchy, power, and impunity. To imagine that eliminating dowry demands alone will end these deaths is to misread both history and society.

Patriarchy is disguised as dowry, a belief that a woman is a liability, transferred from her natal family to her husband’s household. Violence then becomes a means of asserting control and disciplining her. Scholars have shown that harassment often persists long after dowry has been settled, indicating that the conflict is not about unmet financial demands, but about power. Srinivas in “Some Reflections on Dowry” highlights dowry as not just economic exchange, but a patriarchal tool reinforcing women’s subordination.

Sociological research reveals that in many communities, spousal violence is tacitly accepted. Jejeebhoy in “Wife-beating in rural India: A husband's right?” Has explored that domestic violence is socially legitimized, dowry being one excuse among many.  If dowry is not available as justification, infertility, household chores, or simply “disobedience” provide convenient substitutes. In this sense, dowry-related deaths are better understood as a subset of the broader crisis of gender-based violence in India.

Unemployment, debt, and rising consumerist aspirations further intensify these dynamics. A study by Bloch and Rao (2002) demonstrated that violence in marital homes can be deployed strategically, less about immediate financial gain and more about reinforcing dominance in times of economic anxiety. This aligns with what many legal practitioners observe: even highly educated families resort to cruelty when expectations of status, wealth, or obedience are unmet. In June, a 27 year old newly wed woman died by suicide in Tamil Nadu, as the in-laws and husband wanted more dowry despite the father of the bride giving 300 tola gold and car worth Rs. 70 lakhs . Her last audio recording line was “ I cannot live without peace with someone for the society’s sake.”

Families often urge daughters to “adjust,” fearing the stigma of divorce more than the violence of marriage. Social honor, rather than safety, becomes the overriding concern. Women caught in such double binds frequently find themselves with no exit, making them acutely vulnerable to fatal violence.

 India has legislated heavily against dowry and cruelty within marriage. Sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code were designed to deter harassment and provide women with legal recourse. Yet conviction rates for dowry deaths hover around 35%, far below the national average. Investigations are often perfunctory, evidence is poorly collected, and trials drag on for years. Low conviction rate diminishes deterrent effect of law. In this environment, perpetrators operate with near impunity, confident that the law is unlikely to catch up with them.

We reduce these deaths to “dowry disputes” m addressing symptom and not the disease. The real culprits are patriarchy, normalized violence, economic insecurity, and the failure of institutions to protect women. The dowry system provides a language for this violence.

Laws are necessary but insufficient on their own. 

Legal institutions must improve investigation and prosecution standards, ensuring accountability rather than symbolism.Educational systems must challenge gender hierarchies early, teaching equality as non-negotiable.

Families and communities must support women who leave abusive marriages, rather than shaming them.

And above all, we must reframe marriage not as a woman’s fate but as a choice that cannot demand her life in return.

In my practice, I always tell families, that a woman should not be forced to give a second chance because she must have suffered silently and given many second chances daily. 

Until we move beyond dowry, as an explanatory crutch and confront the larger architecture of gendered power and impunity, young brides will continue to be reduced to statistics in crime reports. And every such statistic will stand as an indictment of the society we have chosen to normalize.