Dowry system in India

Historical Incidents of Dowry

Economic factors

There are many economic factors that contribute towards the system of dowry. Some of these include inheritance systems and the bride's economic status.

Some suggestions point to economics and weak legal institutions on inheritance place women in disadvantage, with inheritances being left only to sons.^[23] This leaves women dependent upon their husbands and in-laws, who keep the dowry when she marries.^[24] Prior to 1956, including during the British Raj, daughters had no rights of inheritance to their family's wealth. In 1956, India gave equal legal status to daughters and sons among Hindu, Sikh and Jain families, under the Hindu Succession Act (India grants its Muslim population the Sharia derived personal status laws). Despite the new inheritance law, dowry has continued as a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage by a social process, rather than after parents death by a slow court supervised process under Hindu Succession Act (1956).^[25]

Dowry gave, at least in theory, women economic and financial security in their marriage in the form of movable goods. This helped prevent family wealth break-up and provided security to the bride at the same time.^[23] This system can also be used as a premortem inheritance, as once a woman is presented with movable gifts, she may be cut off from the family estate.^[26]

For many, dowry has become a greater financial burden on the bride's family, and can leave families destitute based on the demands from the groom.^[23][27] The demand for dowry from groom's family and relatives has increased over time.^[28]

Social factors

The structure and kinship of marriage in parts of India contributes to dowry. In the north, marriage usually follows a patrilocal (lives with husband's family) system, where the bride is a non-related member of the family. This system encourages dowry perhaps due to the exclusion of the bride's family after marriage as a form of premortem inheritance for the bride.^[23] In the south, marriage is more often conducted within the bride's family, for example with close relatives or cross-cousins, and in a closer physical distance to her family. In addition, brides may have the ability to inherit land, which makes her more valuable in the marriage, decreasing the chance of dowry over the bride price system.^[23]

In addition to marriage customs that may influence dowry, social customs or rituals, and parents' expectations of dowry are important factors to consider. A 1995 study showed that while attitudes of people are changing about dowry, dowry prevails.^[27][29] In a 1980 study conducted by Rao, 75% of students responded that dowry was not important to marriage, but 40% of their parents likely expected dowry.^[27]

While India has been making progress for women's rights, women continue to be in a subordinate status in their family.^[30][31] Women's education, income, and health are some significant factors that play into the dowry system, and for how much control a woman has over her marriage.^[31]

Religious factors

Dowry in India is not limited to any specific religion. It is widespread among Hindus and people of other religions. For example, Indian Muslims call dowry as jahez which has two categories: The first comprises some essential articles for the outfit of the bride as well as for conjugal life. The other is made up of valuable goods, clothes, jewelry, an amount of money for the groom's family, which is settled on after bargaining. The jahez is separate from cash payment as Mahr or dower that Sharia religious law requires be gifted to the bride.^[4]

Fraud

A 2005 Canadian documentary film, Runaway Grooms, exposed a phenomenon of Indo-Canadian men taking advantage of the dowry system.^[42] These men would travel to India ostensibly seeking a new bride, but then abandon the woman and return to Canada without her as soon as they had secured possession of her dowry.^[43]

Cruelty

Cruelty in the form of torture or harassment of a woman with the objective of forcing her to meet a demand for property or valuable security is a form of dowry crime. The cruelty could be in the form of verbal attacks or may be accompanied by beating or harassment in order to force the woman or her family to yield to dowry demands.^[44] In many instances, the cruelty may even force the woman to commit suicide and it has been specifically criminalized by the anti-dowry laws in India.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence includes a broad spectrum of abusive and threatening behavior which includes physical, emotional, economic and sexual violence as well as intimidation, isolation and coercion.^[45] There are laws like the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 that help to reduce domestic violence and to protect women's rights.^[46]

Abetment to suicide

Continuing abuse by the husband and his family with threats of harm could lead to a woman committing suicide. In such situations, the dowry crime even extends to abetment of suicide, which includes all acts and attempts to intentionally advise, encourage, or assist in committing suicide.^[47] The impact of dowry can leave a woman helpless and desperate, which can cumulate in emotional trauma and abuse.^[26][30] Dowry related abuse causes emotional trauma, depression and suicide.^[26] The offence of abetment to suicide is significant because in many cases, the accused persons often bring up a defense that the victim committed suicide at her own volition, even though this may not be true in reality.^[48]

Dowry murder

Dowry deaths and dowry murder relate to a bride's suicide or killing committed by her husband and his family after the marriage because of their dissatisfaction with the dowry. It is typically the culmination of a series of prior domestic abuses by the husband's family.^[49][50] Most dowry deaths occur when the young woman, unable to bear the harassment and torture, commits suicide by hanging herself or consuming poison. Dowry deaths also include bride burning where brides are doused in kerosene and set ablaze by the husband or his family. Sometimes, due to their abetment to commit suicide, the bride may end up setting herself on fire. Dowry is considered a major contributor towards observed violence against women in India. Some of these offences include physical violence, emotional abuses, and even murder of brides and young girls prior to marriage.[23][25][37] The predominant types of dowry crimes relate to cruelty (which includes torture and harassment), domestic violence (including physical, emotional and sexual assault), abetment to suicide and dowry death (including, issues of bride burning and murder)..^[51]

Bride burnings are often disguised as accidents or suicide attempts. Bride burnings are the most common forms of dowry deaths for a wide range of reasons like kerosene being inexpensive, there being insufficient evidence after the murder and low chances of survival rate.^[26] Apart from bride burning, there are some instances of poisoning, strangulation, acid attacks, etc., as a means of which brides are murdered by the groom's family.^[52]

India, with its large population, reports the highest number of dowry related deaths in the world according to Indian National Crime Record Bureau.^[53] In 2012, 8,233 dowry death cases were reported across India, while in 2013, 8,083 dowry deaths were reported.^[41] This means a dowry-related crime causes the death of a woman every 90 minutes, or 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.^[54][55]

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 consolidated the anti-dowry laws which had been passed on certain states.^[57] This legislation provides for a penalty in section 3 if any person gives, takes or abets giving or receiving of dowry. The punishment could be imprisonment for minimum 5 years and a fine more than ₹15,000 or the value of the dowry received, whichever is higher.^[58] Dowry in the Act is defined as any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given in connection with the marriage.^[59] The penalty for giving or taking dowry is not applicable in case of presents which are given at the time of marriage without any demand having been made.^[60]

The Act provides the penalty for directly or indirectly demanding dowry and provides for a penalty involving a prison term of not less than 6 months and extendable up to two years along with a fine of ₹10,000. Dowry agreements are void ab initio and if any dowry is received by anyone other than the woman, it should be transferred to the woman.^[61] The burden of proving that an offense was not committed is on the persons charged and not on the victim or her family.^[62][63] Under its powers to frame rules for carrying out its objectives under the Act, the government of India has framed the Maintenance of Lists of Presents to the Bride and the Bridegroom Rules, 1985.^[64] There are also several state level amendments to the Dowry Prohibition Act.^[65]

Criminal statutes – Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Evidence Act

The Indian criminal laws were comprehensively amended to include dowry as a punishable offence.^[66] Section 304B was added to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC"), which made dowry death a specific offence punishable with a minimum sentence of imprisonment for 7 years and a maximum imprisonment for life. It provided that if the death of a woman is caused by burns or bodily injury or occurs in suspicious circumstances within 7 years of her marriage, and there's evidence to show that before her death, she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or his relative regarding the demand for dowry, then the husband or the relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.^[67]

Further, section 113B of the Evidence Act, 1872 ("Evidence Act"), creates an additional presumption of dowry death when it is shown that before her death, the woman had been subjected to cruelty on account of dowry demand.^[68] Section 304B IPC along with Section 113B of the Evidence Act have enabled the conviction of many who were not caught by the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.^[69] Section 113A of the Evidence Act provides a similar presumption of abetment of suicide (which is an offense under Section 306 IPC), in case of death of a married woman within a period of seven years of her marriage.

Additionally, the judiciary also includes a murder charge under Section 302 IPC as this allows courts to impose death penalty on perpetrators of the offence. Section 406 IPC, pertaining to offences for the criminal breach of trust, applies in cases of recovery of dowry as it is supposed to be for the benefit of the woman and her heirs.

Further, Section 498A IPC was specifically included in 1983 to protect women from cruelty and harassment. The constitutionality of Section 498A was challenged before the Supreme Court of India on grounds of abuse, that it gave arbitrary power to the police and the court. However, it was upheld in Sushil Kumar Sharma v. Union of India (2005).^[70] The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 provides that for the prosecution of offences under Section 498A IPC, the courts can take cognizance only when it receives a report of the facts from the police or upon a complaint being made by the victim or her family.

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 ("Domestic Violence Act") was passed in order to provide a civil law remedy for the protection of women from domestic violence in India.^[6] The Domestic Violence Act encompasses all forms of physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual abuse and forms a subset of the anti-dowry laws to the extent it is one of the reasons for domestic violence.^[71] Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act specifically incorporates all forms of harassment, injury and harms inflicted to coerce a woman to meet an unlawful demand for dowry.^[71] Some of the common remedies under the Domestic Violence Act include:

• protection orders – prohibiting a person from committing domestic violence;
• residence orders – dispossessing such person from a shared household;
• custody orders – granting custody of a child; and
• compensation orders – directing payment of compensation.

International conventions

India is a party to several international human rights instruments which provide theoretical remedies to the dowry problems.^[72] These international conventions include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR"), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR"), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ("ICESCR"), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW"), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child ("CRC"). CEDAW codifies the rights most relevant to the discussion of dowry-related violence: the rights of women.

However, there are issues of non-intervention and cultural relativism which impede the use of international law to combat dowry deaths.^[73]

Misuse

There is growing criticism that the dowry laws are often being misused, particularly the section 498A of the Indian Penal Code which is observed by many in India as being prone to misuse because of mechanical arrests by the police.^[74] According to the National Crime Records Bureau statistics, in 2012, nearly 200,000 people including 47,951 women, were arrested in regard to dowry offences. However, only 15% of the accused were convicted.^[75]

In many cases of 498A, huge amounts of dowry are claimed without any valid reasoning. A rickshaw puller's wife can allege that she gave crores of rupees as dowry and since it is a cognizable case, police are bound to register the case. In most cases, the financial capacity of the wife or her parents and the source of the funds are never tracked.

Atul Subhash Suicide

In one of the most significant event of misuse of dowry laws by women to extort huge amount of money, on December 9, 2024, Atul Subhash a techie from Bengaluru was found dead at his residence in Bengaluru. He had hanged himself from the ceiling and left behind a suicide note shared via email and a WhatsApp group associated with an NGO. The note detailed his grievances, naming his wife, her relatives (her mother, brother and uncle) as the cause of his suffering and the Judge Rita Kaushik of Jaunpur Court who was hearing her case. The wife (Nikita Singhania) demanded huge amount of Rs. 3 crores as alimony and to drop legal charges against Atul and the judge has been alleged of a Rs. 5 lakhs bribe to settle the case.^[76][77]

In 2005, Section 498A was upheld by the Supreme Court of India when it was challenged.^[78] In 2010, the Supreme Court spoke about the misuse of anti-dowry laws in Preeti Gupta & Another v. State of Jharkhand & Another and more detailed investigation was recommended.^[79] Following the observations of the Supreme Court Indian parliament set up a committee headed by Bhagat Singh Koshyari.^[80] In July 2014, in the case of Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar & Anr.,^[81] a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court reviewed the enforcement of section 41(1)(A) of CrPC which instructs state of following certain procedure before arrest, and went on to observe that the 498A had become a powerful weapon in the hands of disgruntled wives where innocent people were arrested without any evidence due to non-bailable and cognizable nature of the law.^[75][82] The decision received criticism from feminists because it weakened the negotiating power of women.^[83][84][85] Others welcomed the decision as landmark judgment to uphold the human rights of innocent people.^[86][87] An organization called the Save Indian Family Foundation was founded to combat abuses of IPC 498a.

On 19 April 2015, the Indian government sought to introduce a bill to amend Section 498A IPC based on the suggestions of the Law Commission and Justice Malimath committee on reforms of criminal justice.^[88] News reports indicate that the proposed amendment will make the offence compoundable and this would facilitate couples to settle their disputes.^[89]

Ineffectiveness

Although Indian laws against dowry have been drafted decades ago, they have been largely criticised as being ineffective.^[11] Despite the Indian government's efforts, the practice of dowry deaths and murders continues unchecked in many parts of India and this has further added to the concerns of enforcement.^[12] There is criticism by women's groups that India's dowry harassment laws are ineffective because the statutes are too vague, the police and the courts do not enforce the laws and social mores keep women subservient and docile, giving them a subordinate status in the society.^[93] The law ignores the complexities of dowry-related violence and overlooks the element of coercion, and arbitrary compulsive demands.

Further, many women are afraid to implicate their husbands in a dowry crime simply because the Indian society is viewed as having conditioned women to anticipate or expect abuse and in some sense eventually, endure it.^[94] While the laws give great powers, they are not effectively enforced by the police or by courts. It can take up to 10 years for a case to go to court and even once in court, husbands and in-laws end up getting away with extortion or even murder because the women and their families cannot prove 'beyond reasonable doubt' that they are the victims of such crimes, as there are rarely any outside witnesses.^[95][96]

In a recent landmark judgment on dowry death, Hon’ble Supreme Court of India held that “Mere death of the deceased being unnatural in the matrimonial home within seven years of marriage will not be sufficient to convict the accused under Section 304B and 498A IPC”.^[97]