Woman Killed Every Hour Over Dowry Disputes

One woman is killed every hour in India, often burned to death, due to family disputes over dowry payments for marriages, a new report claims.

At least 8,233 women died there last year because of arguments stemming from the bride's family giving money to the groom or his family, the National Crime Records Bureau has said.

If a payment is not deemed adequate enough, victims are often doused with petrol and set alight.

The centuries-old custom of giving or receiving dowries is illegal in India but is still widely practiced and dowry demands often continue for years after the wedding.

Loopholes in dowry prevention laws, delays in prosecution and low conviction rates have led to a steady rise in dowry-related crimes, women's rights activists and police said.

The conviction rate for such crimes is at 32%, according to the bureau.

Activist Ranjana Kumari said the dowry demands had intensified since India’s recent economic boom.

She blamed a growing culture of greed as India opens its economy to foreign goods that the younger generation cannot afford but badly want.

She said: "Marriages have become commercialized. It's like a business proposition where the groom and his family make exorbitant demands.

"And the wealthier the family, the more outrageous the demands.”

Suman Nalwa, a senior New Delhi police officer dealing with crimes against women, said dowry practices extended to all classes in society.

"Even highly educated people don't say no to dowry," she said.

I think that the legislature should provide stiffer punishment for this practice of paying dowry and ensure it is fully enforced to discourage young men from getting married for the wrong reasons. These days,some young men in Nigeria also marry girls from wealthy families ''just to get a piece of the action''.
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