NCJ Number
113830
Journal
Social Defence Volume: 22 Issue: 86 Dated: (October 1986) Pages: 62-66
Date Published
1986
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study examined official data on unnatural deaths of women in Delhi, India for the 1-year period beginning April 1982 to determine the extent of deaths caused by a husband's or in-law's desire for a young bride's dowry.
Abstract
Out of 833 reported unnatural deaths, the study obtained 303 interviews relating to 179 cases. Most victims in the sample were aged 15 to 29, 87 percent were Hindu, and most came from a middle class business family. Three focal points were addressed in the research: deaths due to accident, deaths unrelated to dowry, and dowry-related deaths including both suicide and homicide. While the incidence of dowry death in official records is 12 percent, social investigation assessed them to be 16 percent. While the data does not reveal a widespread problem, the incidence of dowry death is disturbing enough to make individuals and government take notice and devise preventive programs. Social rather than legal measures are likely to be more effective in combatting the problem.