An editorial on dowry deaths or dowry system...
Answers
Most dowry deaths occur when the young woman, unable to bear the harassment and torture, commits suicide. Most of these suicides are by hanging, poisoning or by fire. Sometimes the woman is killed by setting her on fire by her husband or inlaws ; this is known as "bride burning", and sometimes disguised as suicide or accident. Death by burning of Indian women have been more frequently attributed to dowry conflicts.In dowry deaths, the groom's family is the perpetrator of murder or suicide.
India has by far the highest number of dowry-related deaths in the world according to Indian National Crime Record Bureau. In 2012, 8,233 dowry death cases were reported across India. This means a bride was burned every 90 minutes, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.Crime statistics India Archived January 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Government of India (2011)
According to a 1996 report by Indian police, every year it receives over 2,500 reports of bride-burning.The Indian National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports that there were 8,331 dowry death cases registered in India in 2011. Incidents of dowry deaths during the year 2008 (8,172) have increased by 14.4 per cent over 1998 level (7,146),while India's population grew at 17.6% over the 10-year period.The accuracy of these figures have received a great deal of scrutiny from critics who believe dowry deaths are consistently under-reported.
Explanation:
In a season where every other person seems to be taking offence at something or the other, let me add what offends me. I was deeply offended and hurt when I read the following headline: “One bride burnt every hour”. No, this is not a headline from a newspaper of the 1980s but from Sunday, January 29, 2012. The women the headline writes about are killed for not bringing in enough dowry. Yes, indeed, the giving, taking and killing for dowry is still alive and kicking in “Incredible India”.