Recently, a 26-year-old woman in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, was burnt alive over dowry—her five-year-old son stood helplessly as a witness to the crime. In Jodhpur, a schoolteacher, driven to despair by relentless dowry harassment from her in-laws, set herself and her daughter ablaze.
In Bengaluru, a 27-year-old techie was found hanging at her home. Her parents have filed a police complaint, alleging that she died by suicide because she was constantly harassed for dowry. These are not isolated tragedies. They are merely the visible tip of an iceberg of cruelty, silence, and systemic failure.
We like to believe India has entered the 21st century with confidence. We talk about space missions, digital start-ups, and global recognition. But beneath this veneer of modernity lurks a mediaeval cruelty—dowry. Tragically, India’s march of progress has done little to dispel the shadows lurking in our social fabric.
Numerous such cases of dowry-related violence against married women go unreported and receive little media coverage. Greed, after all, knows no bounds. Once a family yields to the pathology of dowry, its hunger only deepens—cars, flats, foreign trips, gold, gadgets… the demands stretch endlessly. Dowry harassment has become a perverse sport for husbands and in-laws. What should have long been buried as a relic of social evil has instead morphed into a grotesque ritual of restorative perversion.
Dowry was once meant as stridhan, a daughter’s security. Today, it has become legalised extortion. A bride is no longer someone to cherish but a cheque to be cashed. With insults hurled at her daily by her husband and in-laws over dowry, a woman’s mental peace becomes an unattainable luxury. Activist Brinda Adige recently said that there is no geography for demanding dowry and giving dowry, as it is prevalent in all religions, every class, and every caste.
According to a July 2025 report by The Hindu, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) documented an average of about 7,000 dowry deaths annually between 2017 and 2022, amounting to nearly 42,000 cases in that five-year period. Victims of dowry harassment should not feel isolated or powerless. Instead, they can find strength by seeking legal counsel or reaching out to a women’s cell or an NGO working for women’s rights.
Despite laws, IAS and IPS officers and even techies still command dowry, as their status feeds society’s obsession with power and prestige. Families pay hefty sums, viewing such matches as a step up.
Dowry violence reflects a sickening mindset. It blends patriarchy, consumerism, and status obsession. Weddings, especially destination weddings, have become showcases of wealth—a pressure magnified by social media. Young couples start their lives burdened by transactions rather than trust.
This raises a blunt question: is marriage in our country drifting into a moral wasteland of greed and loss? Not because of live-in relationships, Western influences, or women’s independence—as conservatives like to argue. But because of the rot within. When love is sidelined, when greed drives the bargain, and when cruelty lurks behind rituals, marriage loses its legitimacy.
For many educated and self-reliant young women today, marriage remains the unspoken subtext—no matter what they achieve, they are still expected to marry. Parents should not force their daughters into marriage if they wish to continue their studies and pursue their careers. Simone de Beauvoir spoke out about women’s rights and individual freedom. Through her work, she encouraged women to take control of their futures and lives authentically. She famously said, “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman,” a line that encapsulates her philosophy of freedom and choice.
Families must take a stand—no giving, no taking dowry. Where are the protests? Religious leaders and community elders must denounce it unequivocally. Citizens’ groups need to mobilise with the same energy they show for other causes. Politicians and film stars, too, should leverage their social media platforms to speak out against the scourge of dowry. In 2022, actor Akshay Kumar, while speaking at a promotional event for his film ‘Raksha Bandhan’, which addresses the theme of dowry, likened this social and cultural menace to “extortion”.
Above all, boys must be raised differently from their teenage years and should be taught that true masculinity lies in respecting women and embracing gender parity. After all, respect for women cannot be taught in adulthood; it must be instilled in childhood. Unless young men see marriage as a partnership of equals, dowry will survive every law and lecture.
As a civilised society, we must confront the mindset of greed, silence, and complicity, or dowry deaths will keep making headlines. If unchecked, marriage risks becoming a house built on sand, destined to crumble under greed.
The writer is an independent journalist.
