India's dowry murders no longer spark public anger, study finds
What's the story
A recent study has found that dowry-related murders in India no longer evoke the same public outrage they once did. The author of the study, Dr. Kriti Kapila, a social anthropologist at the King's India Institute, part of King's College London, said that thousands of women are still killed every year over dowry disputes, despite the practice being banned in 1961. In 2022 alone, there were 6,516 reported dowry deaths in India.
Ongoing issue
Dowries illegal, but practice continues
The study highlights that even though dowries are illegal, the practice continues unabated. Kapila noted that while legal reforms have changed how dowries work, they haven't dismantled the social structures upholding them. She explained that after dowries were banned, they became an "extractive demand," where grooms could "command a price" based on caste, class, education, and professional status. According to Kapila, the dowry became a "premium on the male child" linked to his economic potential.
Dowry
The more urgent question
When the bride's family is unable to meet increasing expectations, the groom's family may respond by inflicting physical and psychological assault on the bride. "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."
Changing dynamics
Shift from public to private violence
The nature of dowry-related violence has also changed over the years. In the past, brides were often killed in staged "accidental" kitchen fires using kerosene. However, as kerosene was phased out in the 1990s, hostile in-laws began driving young brides to suicide instead. This transition, Kapila argued, turned public outcry and grief into "private shame and sorrow," making it difficult to campaign "against someone who has given themselves 'the gift of death'."
Demographic impact
Demographic impact and social norms
The study also highlights the demographic impact of dowry-related violence, with sex-selective abortion becoming more common to avoid future debt. India's 2001 census showed a skewed child sex ratio, with one part of Punjab having only 754 girls for every 1,000 boys. Kapila believes that family-perpetrated violence makes it difficult to mobilize public support against these murders as they challenge deeply ingrained social norms.