India has been witnessing dowry cases day by day. The families of two victims in Bihar and Maharashtra are devastated, again highlighting the deadly consequences of dowry harassment in India.
What happened in Bihar?
In Bhagalpur, Bihar, 25-year-old Sunaina Devi was allegedly strangled to death by her in-laws over dowry demands. Sunaina was allegedly harassed continuously by her husband and in-laws because of her husband’s unemployment and repeated requests for money.
The tragedy deepened when Sunaina’s mother Babli Devi fainted at seeing her daughter’s corpse at JLN Hospital. Babli later died of confirmed brain hemorrhage, according to doctors. The police intervened in a scuffle between the two families over a postmortem on sunaina that was eventually conducted.
Maharashtra: Young Woman Takes Her Own Life Following Dowry Harassment
Mayuri Gaurav Thosar, a 23-year-old from Jalgaon in Maharashtra, took her own life almost four months after she had married, citing ongoing mental and physical harassment from her in-laws. Her parents had said that after their daughter’s wedding, they tried to mediate over the four months of her marriage after being informed of continual torture and dowry demands.
Mayuri’s family has called for the immediate arrest and stringent action against the in-laws and are refusing to allow a postmortem to be conducted until the accused have been arrested.
The cases follow the highly publicized Nikki Bhatti dowry murder case, which has shed light on fresh dowry-related deaths and crimes and the urgency of stricter enforcement of anti-dowry laws.
The Dowry Crisis in India
Despite legislative efforts like the Dowry Prohibition Act, the country continues to see dowry harassment and deaths. Authorities remind us that societal sensitivity and better protections for women is of utmost priority, to avoid these needless deaths and incidents.
The statistics present a bleaker picture than the stories do. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 2022, 6,450 dowry deaths. In this, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and Haryana reports 80% of dowry deaths. National Commission for Women has registered 4,383 complaints of dowry harassment in 2024 alone, and 292 dowry death cases. In metropolitan cities, there is no difference, and within the same period, Delhi accounted for nearly 30% of the dowry deaths of India’s metropolitan cities, followed by Kanpur, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Patna.
Each number hides a lost family, a silenced voice, and a lost future. Legislation exists in the Dowry Prohibition act of 1961, and Section 304B of the IPC, but the poor implementation, sexualized shame, and social complicity continues. So long as dowry is decked out as “tradition” and young brides are viewed as cash cows, these murders won’t cease.
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Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience covering Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes that every voice matters, and journalism has a vital role to play in amplifying those voices. Sofia is committed to creating impact and shedding light on stories that truly matter. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is also a music enthusiast who enjoys singing.
