Why India's Thousands of Dowry Deaths No Longer Spark Public Outrage, New Study Reveals

Key Points

IN A COUNTRY where around 6,000 cases of dowry-related deaths are reported every year (National Crime Records Bureau Data, 2020-24), one would think that such a social evil would vehemently be opposed by the public and would spark much anger. In 2024, as per NCRB data, 16 women died every day due to dowry demands. This year, three high-profile dowry-death cases emerged in the national capital Delhi: the deaths of Twisha Sharma, Deepika Nagar, and most recently, Akriti Sutar. Yet, the public remains seemingly silent on this issue. No candle marches were seen. Public anger against the dowry deaths reached its peaks immediately after the incident, yet they were overshadowed by more ‘interesting’ cases, such as women murdering their partners. 

Dowry deaths in India, apparently, have become a recurrent occurrence and require no special attention, and a new study says just that. A latest academic research conducted by social anthropologist Dr. Kriti Kapila has revealed that dowry deaths in India no longer spark public outrage or anger in the country that they once did, despite thousands of women losing their lives.

The cases of women who are either killed for dowry or provoked to commit suicide owing to dowry-related abuse and harassment have also disappeared from public debates, the study further reveals. The research argues that India has developed an “infrastructure of inattention” around dowry killings. It refers to legal and cultural processes that once made such deaths the focus of mass public protests, but now allow these murders to pass with little public attention.

The study, published in academic journal Public Culture and written by King’s College London social anthropologist Dr Kriti Kapila, reveals how dowry deaths peaked during the Emergency period (1975-77) in India. Women were killed by their in-laws and husbands if they refused to comply with dowry demands, mostly by burning them alive and disguising the murder as a kitchen fire accident. The study further notes that in 1988, India recorded 1,842 dowry deaths. In 2022, the number increased to 6,516 deaths, with over 60,000 cases remaining pending in legal proceedings.

In India, giving and receiving dowry is outlawed under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. Other legal provisions that gave women equal autonomy and rights in marriage were the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 that introduced divorce into Hindu marriage for the first time, and the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 that gave women inheritance and property rights. These legal reforms aimed to dismantle the system that allowed the dowry practice to persist, but proved ineffective.

See also: Dowry death case: SC sets aside Patna HC’s ‘mechanical approach’ in granting bail to husband

How Dowry Killings Changed Over the Decades 

The study dissects how traditional Hindu marriages started off with an unequal footing, with women viewed as being ‘lesser’ than men. That was why parents of the bride would give dowry to the groom’s family, as a monetary compensation to them because they agreed to ‘take in’ their daughter.

Over time, the practice of giving dowry evolved to become a ‘price tag’ of sorts on the groom. The higher the groom’s economic worth, the higher the dowry demand. As such, the groom’s family would demand exorbitant amounts of money and other assets from the bride’s family, sometimes even years after the marriage. If the demand weren't met, then the groom and his family would inflict physical and psychological harm on their daughter-in-law.

In the 1970s and the 1980s, violence related to dowry demands were met with feminist activism, and anti-dowry protests became widespread. This marked the first such mass movement organized by women in post-independence India. 

However, the study notes that the mass protests petered out over time, as the dynamic of dowry deaths in India changed. Earlier, Indian kitchens would use kerosene, a highly inflammable substance, as cooking fuel. In-laws used kerosene to set women on fire, and pretended that her death was due to a kitchen fire accident.

See also: Brinda Karat says 86 women are raped every day in India, 6000 are burnt alive for dowry every year

Why Public Anger Over Dowry Deaths Has Faded 

As kerosene in kitchens got phased out gradually, the groom’s family couldn't use the ‘kitchen fire’ excuse as an alibi for the dowry death anymore. In place, they resorted to harassing their daughter-in-laws to the extent that they themselves take their own lives.

This transition turned public outcry and grief into “private shame and sorrow,” Dr Kapila said. The study argues that this shift made it “impossible to campaign against someone who has given themselves ‘the gift of death’,” effectively blocking the public outrage that had previously arisen.

“The more urgent question is not why the anti-dowry law hasn’t worked, but why the killing has stopped generating the kind of collective grief that once brought thousands of women on to the streets,” said Kapila. “That disappearance is not accidental – it has a structure.”

Dr Kapila’s research was inspired by an exhibition featuring the photography of Sheba Chhachhi, who documented the women’s movement in India during the 1970s and 1980s. Dr Kapila was struck by how distant those protests felt today. “Even though dowry continues to be practiced and remains fatal for many women, it is curious that dowry deaths no longer animate any political discussion or mobilisation,” she said.

“Women will possibly find other ways to protest against dowry deaths,” she added. “It’s difficult to challenge, to find solidarity around issues that challenge social norms. It’s reflective of a wider political moment.”

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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