INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR LEGAL RESEARCH & ANALYSIS (ISSN 2582 – 6433)

VOLUME 2 ISSUE I (May 2021)

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EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITORS Ms. Ezhiloviya S.P. Nalsar Passout

Ms. Priya Singh West Bengal National University of Juridical Science

Mr. Ritesh Kumar Nalsar Passout

Mrs. Pooja Kothari Practicing Advocate

Dr. Shweta Dhand Assistant Professor

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ABOUT US

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR LEGAL RESEARCH & ANLAYSIS ISSN 2582-6433 is an Online Journal is Quarterly, Peer Review, Academic Journal, Published online, that seeks to provide an interactive platform for the publication of Short Articles, Long Articles, Book Review, Case Comments, Research Papers, Essay in the field of Law & Multidisciplinary issue. Our aim is to upgrade the level of interaction and discourse about contemporary issues of law. We are eager to become a highly cited academic publication, through quality contributions from students, academics, professionals from the industry, the bar and the bench. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR LEGAL RESEARCH & ANALYSIS ISSN 2582-6433 welcomes contributions from all legal branches, as long as the work is original, unpublished and is in consonance with the submission

guidelines.

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THE LEGAL SCENARIO OF DEATH AND IN By : Harshika Mehta

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 5

INTRODUCTION 6

DOWRY DEATHS IN INDIA 6

ROLE OF IN-LAWS AND BRIDE’S FAMILY IN DOWRY DEATHS 8

STATISTICAL DATA ON DOWRY DEATHS 9

Table 1: Occurrence of dowry deaths in India from 1995–2007 9

Table 2: Occurrence of dowry deaths in India from 2010-2019 10

Table 3: Occurrence of dowry deaths in India from 1995–2007 10

Table 4: Conviction rate for dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011. 11 Table 5: Percentage of persons convicted to trials completed for dowry deaths in India, 2005- 2011. 11

Table 6: Disposal rate for dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011. 11

Table 7: Incidences and rate of dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011. 12

Table 8: People responsible for dowry deaths. 12

Table 9: Pendency percentage dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011. 12

CONCLUSION 13

REFERENCES 14

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ABSTRACT

India is a country with a history of oppressive patriarchy and where women are considered as a burden, females are not educated in the rural parts of India as they are believed to do the duties of a housewife, bear children and raise them. States like Haryana in India are known for female feticides and some of the cities have absolutely no women and the men can hardly get married. When a gets married off in India, it is believed that the burden is shifting to her husband’s family and hence they ask for dowry in return from the parents of the bride. Dowry- are legislatively defined as “the death of a woman caused by any …within seven years of her and…she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or [her in- laws] for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry.”1 This paper is based on the data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau2 about the dowry deaths in India and this paper will closely analyse the consequences of this prevalent practice in India.

INTRODUCTION

Domestic violence on women is highly prevalant in India. A country with 496.4 million women out of which around 45% of women are beated, slapped, kicked by her in-laws and her husband every year.3 Many have now developed a sense of feeling that their husbands own them and they surrender easily as they have been socialized into believing that their husbands are entitled to power over them4 and hence they tolerate the daily verbal and physical . Women in India are taught from childhood that their husbands are equivalent to god and it is their duty to protect their husband’s dignity so they “exonerate their husbands” of any blame for the harm they face as a result of the abuse.5 The normalcy of in our society has led to the growth of dowry deaths as it gives some men the confidence to even kill their when they do not get what they want. DOWRY DEATHS IN INDIA

In this country, every hour five women on an average face torture and harassment related to

1 This is the definition provided in the Dowry Prohibition Act enacted by the Parliament of India in 1961. Accord, e.g., Anshu Nangia, The Tragedy of Bride Burning in India: How Should the Law Address It?, 22 BROOKLYN J. INT’L 637, 675 (1997). 2The National Crime Records, https://ncrb.gov.in/en 3 Swapna Majumdar, In India, Domestic Violence Rises with Education, WOMEN ENEWS, Nov. 6, 2003, http://www.womensenews.org/story/domesticviolence/031106/india-domestic-violence-rises-education. 4 Judith G. Greenberg, Criminalizing Dowry Deaths: The Indian Experience, 11 AM. U.J. GENDER SOC. POL’Y & L. 801, 821-22 (2003). 5 Ibid at 823. 6 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

dowry.6 Another study found out that one Indian is buried to death every 90 minutes.7 There were 8,391 reported incidents of dowry murders in 20108 and 7000 cases were reported in 2003.9 The bride’s family does not utter a word against the death because they consider it shameful and thousands of deaths go unreported.10 There are many factors that add up and lead to the commission of this crime, mainly the marital fights about the unreasonable demands made by the husband and his family for a larger dowry than before.11 This greed has resulted in dowry demands that amount to a total of three to six times the annual male wage in villages.12 There is a never ending greed of families for dowry as they pursue a luxurious standard of living and to accumulate more wealth.13 The greed of acquiring more wealth is much greater than a life, the life of a bride. The original purpose of dowry has been completely modified and now is believed that the bride’s value is proportional to the amount of dowry she and her family can afford to give to her husband’s family. The tradition of dowry traces back to 2500 to 1500 B.C., the original purpose of dowry was for the own benefit and use of the bride. The amount of dowry that she brought at the time of marriage was for her own use.14 The wealth given by the bride's parents to her was the tradition of dowry and it was a vital custom in Hindu .15 Dowry was like an insurance given by the parents to their daughter since she leaves her old house and everything at the time of marriage.16 The dowry the bride used to bring in her new family was her contribution as a new family member which gave her power and respect in her new family.17 However, as time passed by, the view of society towards dowry changed and it was no longer seen as a protection for the

6 Aysan Sev’er, Discarded Daughters: The Patriarchal Grip, Dowry Deaths, Sex Ratio Imbalances & Foeticide in India, 7 WOMEN’S HEALTH AND URBAN LIFE (May 2008) available at https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/10365/1/Sever_discarded_daughter.pdf 7 Rahul Bedi, Indian on the Rise, THE TELEGRAPH, Feb. 27 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9108642/Indian-dowry-deathson-the-rise.html 8 Subodh Varma, Dowry Death: One Bride Burnt Every Hour, THE TIMES OF INDIA, available at http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-27/india/30670050_1_dowry-death-harassment-and-cruelty- section-498a 9 Purna Manchandia, Practical Steps Towards Eliminating Dowry and BrideBurning in India, 13 TUL. J. INT’L & COMP. L 305, 307 (2005). 10 Ibid 11 Oldenburg, supra note 1, at vii 12 Siwan Anderson, The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice, JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, available at http://econ.arts.ubc.ca/asiwan/siwan-jep2.pdf 13 Laurel Remers Pardee, The Dilemma of Dowry Deaths: Domestic Disgrace or International Human Rights Catastrophe?, 13 ARIZ. J. INT’L & COMP. LAW 491, 498 (1996). E.g., Nangia, supra note 6, at 643. 14 Namratha S. Ravikant, Dowry Deaths: Proposing A Standard for Implementation of Domestic Legislation in Accordance with Human Rights Obligation, 6 MICH. J. GENDER & L. 449, 454 (2000) 15 Shiva, Bride Burning & Dowry, INDIAFACTS, Dec. 21, 2008, http://indiafacts.com/news/women- abuse/2008122150/bride-burning-dowry/ 16 See, e.g., OLDENBURG, supra note 1, at 32; Sunil Bhave, Deterring Dowry Deaths in India: Applying Tort Law to Reverse the Economic Incentives that Fuel the Dowry Market, 40 SUFFOLK U.L. REV. 291, 297 (2007) 17 Purna Manchandia, Practical Steps Towards Eliminating Dowry and BrideBurning in India, 13 TUL. J. INT’L & COMP. L. 305, 310 (2005). 7 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

bride but a way to increase the standards of living of the in-laws of the bride.18 Both the families take part in the exchange but it is controlled and driven by the husband’s family because the value and worth of a man is considered way higher than of a woman as they are considered to be a burden and are often uneducated.19 The demand is often made after the marital rites are completed as then the bride would be bound by the oppressive powers used by her husband.20 The woman has to surrender under the fear of getting shamed for a failed marriage.21

In India, dowry-murders are legislatively defined as: “The death of a woman caused by any burns or bodily injury that occurs under otherwise normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called “dowry death.”22

Women who are financially dependent on their husbands and are unable to meet the financial demands of the husband and his family are often the brides that are burned to death and no one from the society does anything to help them. According to some scholars, the harassment the brides go through, and the beatings of her husband are very common in India and are commonly ignored by the official circles of the police, media, judiciary and the government.23 The general consensus of scholars implies that prohibition of dowry have been failing in India due to vague and inadequate laws of prohibition of dowry.24

ROLE OF IN-LAWS AND BRIDE’S FAMILY IN DOWRY DEATHS

In-laws play a very important role in manipulating the bride and her family for dowry, they pressurise their own son to threaten and torture his to obtain large anounts of dowry. In India the system of joint family is quite prevalent and the relatives tend to live together25 also, the marriages are not conducted by the consent of the bride and the groom but are decided by

18 Accord, e.g., Ahmad, infra note 11, at 277. 19 Namratha S. Ravikant, Dowry Deaths: Proposing A Standard for Implementation of Domestic Legislation in Accordance with Human Rights Obligation, 6 MICH. J. GENDER & L. 449, 455 (2000); see also, Avnita Lakhani, Bride-Burning: The “Elephant in the Room” is Out of Control, 5 PEPP. DISP. RESOLUTION L.J. 249, 254 (2005). 20 A study conducted in Delhi, India, reported that, sixty percent of the time, no demands were made for dowry before the marriage occurred. Nangia, ibid at 645. 21 The dishonor associated with a failed marriage is seen in the fact that, until 1956, divorces were illegal for the Hindus of India. Oldenburg, supra note 1, at 193 22 Supra note 1 23 Amanda Hitchcock, Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India, WORLD SOCIALISY WEB SITE, July 4, 2001, http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jul2001/ind-j04.shtml 24 Supra note 1 25MOHD. UMAR, BRIDE BURNING IN INDIA 80 (A.P.H. Publishing Corp., 1998) 8 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

negotiations between both the families.26 Thus the men in these families do not marry for love but for materialistic things. The bride’s own family enables the harassment and torture of their son in-law on their own daughter because of the fear of the society, they refuse to help the bride when she tries to return home because according to the societal notions, it is a shame if a daughter returns to her parents’ house.27 The fear placed on family honor and the taboo against failed marriages has made the brides own parents to refuse her when she tries to come back after being abused.28 The social stigma is strong and matters more than their own daughter’s life, it is so strong that they would rather see their daughters die in front of them than to have them get separated from their abusive husbands.29 Hence, many Indian brides have nowhere to go to for help and cannot expect any protection from their own families. The relatives ignore the abuse and also try to persuade the bride to return to her abusive husband and his family. Whenever a bride is burned there are raely any eyewitnesses to give evidence against the husband.30 Numerous law scholars have noted the problem needs to be maneuvered technically.31

STATISTICAL DATA ON DOWRY DEATHS Table 1: Occurrence of dowry deaths in India from 1995–200732 YEAR DOWRY DEATHS PERCENTAGE VARIATION OVER THE YEAR

1995 4648 -

1996 5513 18.6

1997 6000 9.0

1998 6975 16.1

1999 6699 -4.0

2000 6995 4.4

2001 6851 -2.0

26 Dr. Nehaludddin Ahmad, Dowry Deaths (bride burning) in India and Abetment of : A Socio-Legal Appraisal, 2 JAEIL 275, 275 (2008), available at http://www.yijuninstitute.org/yijun/publications/pdf/note1-1-2.pdf 27 See, e.g., Parvathi Menon, ‘Dowry Deaths’ in , 16 FRONTLINE, Aug. 14- 27, 1999, available at http://hindu.com/fline/fl1617/16170640.htm 28 Supra note 8 29 Robin Greenhalgh, Dowry Deaths in India, ESSORTMENT, 2002, http://www.essortment.com/all/dowrydeathsind_rgcg.htm 30 Supra note 13 31 Supra note 1

32 National Crime Records Bureau. -2007. New Delhi: National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India; 2008. 9 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

2002 6822 -0.4

2003 6208 -9.0

2004 7026 13.2

2005 6787 -3.4

2006 7618 12.2

2007 8093 6.2

Table 2: Occurrence of dowry deaths in India from 2010-201933 YEAR DOWRY DEATHS

2010 8391

2011 8618

2012 8233

2013 8083

2014 8455

2015 7634

2016 7621

2017 7466

2018 7166

2019 7115

Table 3: Occurrence of dowry related in India from 1995–200734 YEAR DOWRY SUICIDES PERCENTAGE VARIATION OVER THE YEAR

1995 2407 -

1996 2180 -9.4

1997 2496 14.5

1998 2517 0.8

1999 2572 2.2

2000 2446 -4.8

2001 2414 -1.3

33 Ibid 34 Ibid 10 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

2002 2410 -0.2

2003 2447 1.5

2004 2638 7.8

2005 2336 -10.8

2006 2351 -0.6

2007 3148 34.7

Table 4: Conviction rate for dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011.35 YEAR CONVICTION RATE

2005 33.4

2006 33.7

2007 33

2008 33.4

2009 33.4

2010 33.6

2011 35.8

Table 5: Percentage of persons convicted to trials completed for dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011.36 YEAR PERSONS CONVICTED TO TRIALS

2005 33.4

2006 33.1

2007 33.2

2008 34.1

2009 33.8

2010 34.8

2011 36.1

Table 6: Disposal rate for dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011.37 YEAR DISPOSAL RATE

35 Ibid 36 Ibid 37 Ibid 11 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

2005 19.1

2006 18.3

2007 18.9

2008 18.2

2009 17.1

2010 17.8

2011 16.9 Table 7: Incidences and rate of dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011.38 YEAR INCIDENCE RATE

2005 6787 0.6

2006 7618 0.7

2007 5093 0.7

2008 8172 0.7

2009 8383 0.7

2010 8391 0.7

2011 8618 0.7

Table 8: People responsible for dowry deaths.39 PEOPLE PERCENTAGE

Husband 34

Husband and in-laws 26

In-laws and/or relatives 10

Others 30

Table 9: Pendency percentage dowry deaths in India, 2005-2011.40 YEAR PENDENCY PERCENTAGE

2005 80.4

2006 81.4

2007 80.8

38 GOI, Crime in India, 2005-2011, National Crime Record Bureau, New Delhi. 39 Analysis of risk factors of dowry death – A south Indian study , https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X12002417 40 Supra note 38 12 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433

2008 81.4

2009 82.5

2010 81.9

2011 82.9

CONCLUSION

In a like India where rapid privatization and globalisation is happening, dowry is an evil pulling the advancment of this country. The data above depicts a clear-cut picture of how women in India suffer, how they are tortured and traumatized by their own husbands and in-laws for wealth. This practice is also shockingly highly prevalant in urban areas of the country amongst educated people, the greed of these families to accumulate wealth from the bride’s family drives them to do these atrocities. In the section of people where women are engaged in economic activities and contribute to family’s income are less likely to be abused or murdered for dowry whereas the women in the upper class who are not allowed to work in the name of family’s reputation and honour are often subject to abuse and torture for dowry. The laws of India are weak and are not able to protect women to the fullest. Also the societal stigma has put a fear in the minds of the families to stay silent and to helplessly watch their daughters die and get abused. The society watches women around them getting harassed in their own homes for dowry but they choose to be silent. To completely eradicate the practice of dowry, this country needs some stricter legislative as well as non-legislative measures which reaches to everyone from the top to the grassroots. The Dowry prohibition Act,196141 has provisions that prohibits dowry exchange and it has been in force since the last 60 years but it has some lacunas because of which the numbers of dowry deaths have increased after the enactment of this act. Mere declaration of bride burning and dowry deaths being illegal will not help to stop and eradicate this practice from its core, the murders will continue to be prevalant,the harassment will continue until Indian government takes some serious measures to mend the inherent lacunas of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The government should make women aware about how important and valuable their dignity and life is and that they should come out openly to combat thos crime instead of dealing with the abuse in silence thinking that it is a private matter. Unfortunately, until the loopholes of the Act are amended and the act is strengthened to give the women suffering from this attrocity, the protection it was meant to provide, Indian women will continue to be victims in their own homes.

41 THE DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT, 1961, (Act No. 28 of 1961), https://wcd.nic.in/act/dowry-prohibition-act- 1961 13 www.ijlra.com Volume 2 Issue I| May 2021 ISSN: 2582-6433 REFERENCES

● This is the definition provided in the Dowry Prohibition Act enacted by the Parliament of India in 1961. Accord, e.g., Anshu Nangia, The Tragedy of Bride Burning in India: How Should the Law Address It?, 22 BROOKLYN J. INT’L 637, 675 (1997). ● The National Crime Records, https://ncrb.gov.in/en ● Swapna Majumdar, In India, Domestic Violence Rises with Education, WOMEN ENEWS, Nov. 6, 2003, http://www.womensenews.org/story/domesticviolence/031106/india-domestic-violence- rises-education. ● Judith G. Greenberg, Criminalizing Dowry Deaths: The Indian Experience, 11 AM. U.J. GENDER SOC. POL’Y & L. 801, 821-22 (2003). ● Amanda Hitchcock, Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India, WORLD SOCIALISY WEB SITE, July 4, 2001, http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jul2001/ind-j04.shtml ● Aysan Sev’er, Discarded Daughters: The Patriarchal Grip, Dowry Deaths, Sex Ratio Imbalances & Foeticide in India, 7 WOMEN’S HEALTH AND URBAN LIFE (May 2008) available at https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/10365/1/Sever_discarded_daughter.pdf ● Rahul Bedi, Indian Dowry Death on the Rise, THE TELEGRAPH, Feb. 27 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9108642/Indian-dowry-deathson- the-rise.html ● Subodh Varma, Dowry Death: One Bride Burnt Every Hour, THE TIMES OF INDIA, available at http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01- 27/india/30670050_1_dowry-death-harassment-and-cruelty-section-498a ● Purna Manchandia, Practical Steps Towards Eliminating Dowry and BrideBurning in India, 13 TUL. J. INT’L & COMP. L 305, 307 (2005). ● Laurel Remers Pardee, The Dilemma of Dowry Deaths: Domestic Disgrace or International Human Rights Catastrophe?, 13 ARIZ. J. INT’L & COMP. LAW 491, 498 (1996). E.g., Nangia, supra note 6, at 643. ● Namratha S. Ravikant, Dowry Deaths: Proposing A Standard for Implementation of Domestic Legislation in Accordance with Human Rights Obligation, 6 MICH. J. GENDER & L. 449, 454 (2000) ● Shiva, Bride Burning & Dowry, INDIAFACTS, Dec. 21, 2008, http://indiafacts.com/news/women-abuse/2008122150/bride-burning-dowry/

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● Sunil Bhave, Deterring Dowry Deaths in India: Applying Tort Law to Reverse the Economic Incentives that Fuel the Dowry Market, 40 SUFFOLK U.L. REV. 291, 297 (2007) ● Purna Manchandia, Practical Steps Towards Eliminating Dowry and BrideBurning in India, 13 TUL. J. INT’L & COMP. L. 305, 310 (2005). ● Siwan Anderson, The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice, JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, available at http://econ.arts.ubc.ca/asiwan/siwan- jep2.pdf ● Namratha S. Ravikant, Dowry Deaths: Proposing A Standard for Implementation of Domestic Legislation in Accordance with Human Rights Obligation, 6 MICH. J. GENDER & L. 449, 455 (2000); see also, Avnita Lakhani, Bride-Burning: The “Elephant in the Room” is Out of Control, 5 PEPP. DISP. RESOLUTION L.J. 249, 254 (2005). ● The dishonor associated with a failed marriage is seen in the fact that, until 1956, divorces were illegal for the Hindus of India. Oldenburg. ● Dr. Nehaludddin Ahmad, Dowry Deaths (bride burning) in India and Abetment of Suicide: A Socio-Legal Appraisal, 2 JAEIL 275, 275 (2008), available at http://www.yijuninstitute.org/yijun/publications/pdf/note1-1-2.pdf ● MOHD. UMAR, BRIDE BURNING IN INDIA 80 (A.P.H. Publishing Corp., 1998) ● Parvathi Menon, ‘Dowry Deaths’ in Bangalore, 16 FRONTLINE, Aug. 14- 27, 1999, available at http://hindu.com/fline/fl1617/16170640.htm ● Robin Greenhalgh, Dowry Deaths in India, ESSORTMENT, 2002, http://www.essortment.com/all/dowrydeathsind_rgcg.htm ● National Crime Records Bureau. Crime in India-2007. New Delhi: National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India; 2008. ● GOI, Crime in India, 2005-2011, National Crime Record Bureau, New Delhi. ● THE DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT, 1961, (Act No. 28 of 1961), https://wcd.nic.in/act/dowry-prohibition- act-1961 ● Analysis of risk factors of dowry death – A south Indian study, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X12002417

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