Written by: – Mohd Shaan, BALLB, 4TH YEAR, Fairfield Institute of Management & Technology (affiliated to GGSIPU)
Keywords: – Dowry, Legal frameworks, Domestic Violence, Marriage, cruelty.
Abstract: – Indians consider marriage a deeply social and cultural institution crucial for family structure, societal order, and lineage continuation; many communities, including Hindus who see it as a sacred union, Muslims who view it as a religious duty, and Christians who consider it a sacrament, attach religious significance to it. But there is a social evil of Dowry in the marriage and woman and her family sacrifices. And because of this dowry demands harassment has to be faced by the woman like: – domestic violence, torture, social, emotional and sexual violence and cruelty.
How marriage holds such an importance: –
Ø Family and lineage- Marriage consider as an important step for creating the foundation of the family, ensuring the existence of the family name and traditions.
Ø Social order- Marriage helps in maintaining social structure and stability by ensuring roles and responsibility of every member of the family.
Ø Social approval- In India, people consider marriage a socially acceptable way to form a relationship between two partners.
Ø Companionship and support- Marriage considered as a source of companionship, emotional support, and a sense of belonging.
Ø Marriage gives you a psychological support- Marriage provides partners various psychological benefits to an individual. And these benefits linked to the emotional and social aspect of being committed to a partner.
In the wake of such an important event that inspires harmony between two people and their families. Apart from the mutual decision between the two people and their families, it also growing into an occasion to parade the prestige, status, and wealth of families. In this context, the giving and receiving the dowry arose as an established custom.
What considered as a dowry?
Dowry can include the money, gold, household items, property, either it can be movable or can be immovable, or any such valuable article that the family of the bride gives to the family of the groom and his family for marrying her. The word dowry emerged from two different languages, first the Latin word ‘dotarium’ and second is an Anglo-Norman French word ‘dowarie’ that combinedly form the middle English term ‘Dowry’. It has analogy with the
English word ‘dower’, which defines as a woman’s share of her husband’s property after his death.
The practice of dowry transfers a major portion of the bride’s parents’ wealth to the groom and his family; marriage is the sole reason for this transfer. Therefore, modern marriages prioritize accumulating wealth rather than upholding the sacred institution they once represented.
Currently, the practice of dowry is more prevalent in the South Asian countries like: – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and some of the African countries. If we talk about the South Asian countries, bride’s parents called it as ‘gifts’ for their son-in-law for selecting their daughter as his wife and there by relating dowry with love, affection, and gratitude.
What is Dowry Death?
Sometimes after the marriage, woman harassed by her husband and in-laws for not bringing adequate dowry despite of bringing the same, because they are so greedy for the dowry and whatever is given by her parents is insufficient for them. And they are not appreciating the efforts of the parents of woman, who gave the major portion of their hard-earned money and sometimes the money received by mortgaging their own property and other valuable item. And as the result of this is, either woman commit suicide because of harassment or domestic violence caused by the in-laws or may killed by the in-laws in aggression and this killing considered being a Dowry Death which is illegal and also punishable under the Indian laws.
Cruelty and Domestic violence –
Cruelty includes any conduct that is likely to compel a woman to commit suicide or cause grave harm or injury to her life, limb, or health. And it also includes the act of compelling woman or her parents/relatives to meet the unlawful demands for property or any other valuable security.
The act of domestic violence, which consist threatening and abusive behavior: – emotional, physical, economic and sexual violence. And to prohibit the same Protection of Woman from Domestic Violence Act came into the picture in 2005.
Legal frameworks to prohibit Dowry Demand and Dowry Death
In Indian laws, there are many legal frameworks developed over the period gradually, like IPC 1860/ Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Now we are going to talk about these legal frameworks: –
Indian Penal Code 1860/ Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023- Dowry Death mainly covered under two sections, Section 304B deals with Dowry Death and Section 498A deals with cruelty by husband or relatives. Or section 80 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023. Contents in both the section are same.
Ø The content of Section 304B of the IPC follows: –
1. If a woman dies because of burns, bodily injury, or under unnatural circumstances within seven years of marriage, and it established that she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or his relatives in connection with a demand for dowry shortly before her death, such a death shall consider a “dowry death.” In such cases, the husband or relatives involved shall be deemed responsible for her death.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section, “dowry” shall have the same meaning as defined under Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961).
2. Any person found guilty of committing dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of no less than seven years, which may extend to life imprisonment.
But in the case of Baijnath v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2016), the Supreme court held that mere unnatural death within seven years of the marriage alone does not constitute the offence the section 304B, there should be the evidences of the cruelty and dowry demands must prove.
Ø Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code/ Section 86 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita
The content of this section follows: –
Whoever, being the husband or a relative of the husband, subjects a woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to three years and shall also be liable to a fine.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section, “cruelty” includes—
(a) any willful act that is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or cause serious harm or danger to her life, limb, or physical or mental health; or
(b) harassment of the woman with the intent to coerce her or any of her relatives into meeting an unlawful demand for property or valuable security, or due to their failure to fulfill such a demand.
This section penalizes the husband or any relative of the husband who is/are engaged in the act of cruelty on the woman. The punishment of cruelty under this section is three years of imprisonment and a fine.
Ø Next very significant legal framework is Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
Section 3 of the act provides the penalty for giving and taking Dowry and imposes imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine of Rs 15,000/- or the value of the dowry, whichever is higher.
Section 4 of that act provides a penalty for demanding dowry and says that demanding dowry, either directly or indirectly, is punishable with imprisonment of six months to two years and a fine up to Rs 10,000.
Section 8A of the act provides for the burden of proof and says that the accused has to prove that they did not demand dowry, shifting the burden of proof from the victim to the accused.
So, these are some legal frameworks in India to prohibit cruelty, dowry demand and the death related to it in India.
Statistical Data
According to the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the reported cases of Dowry Deaths during the year 2018, 2019, 2020 are 7167, 7141 and 6966, respectively. And these numbers show a decline in the number of cases in 2020 as compared to 2018 and 2019. And another report of the NCRB shows that in every single hour one woman made victim of dowry death in India.
According to the Statista report in 2022, the reported dowry cases in India amounted to around 6,400. This was a gradual decrease from 2014, in which this number was approximately 8,500.
These data and the reports show the reality of our society and the laws and also put forwards the weakness of our legislative and judicial system.
Misuse of the laws
The Acts introduced these laws to protect women from cruelty and to punish husbands and in-laws accordingly. But nowadays, women misuse these sections to trap innocent in-laws. In December 2024, while addressing the case of Dara Lakshmi Narayana v. State of Telangana, Supreme of India expressed concern over the misuse of section 498A IPC and the bench, comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh, observed that we should scrutinize the vague and generalized allegations during matrimonial conflicts, and if it is not, then it leads to the misuse of the legal processes and it would encourage arm-twisting tactics by a wife and/or her family.
The court also referred to some past judgements of the court that have flagged the dangers of over-implications. In the Preeti Gupta v. State of Jharkhand (2010) court highlighted that how vague and generalized accusations often dragged individuals with little or no involvement into criminal trials. In Geeta Mehrotra v. State of UP (2012) & Kahkashan Kausar v. State of Bihar (2022), the court held that mere mentioning of names of the in-laws without evidences of the active participation in the alleged harassment does not warrant prosecution. In Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014), the court took a step against routine arrest under section 498A of the IPC. And the court mandated that the arrest should follow thorough investigations, to prohibit harassment against innocent individuals. In Satender Kumar Antil case (2022), the court imposed a detailed guideline to prevent routine arrest and ensure procedural safeguards. And it includes requiring police to record reasons for arrest in case where the imprisonment is less than seven years, then issue proper notice to the suspected person for calling him/her for the questioning. According to the data of National Crime Records Bureau, more than 80% of such cases end in acquittals.
Through various judgments, the court cautions the relevant authorities to examine and scrutinize the facts of each case when implementing these laws, preventing the misuse of these sections from harassing or disturb innocent people.
Conclusion
References: – 1) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/politiclaw/dowry-and-dowry-death-42574/
2) https://unacademy.com/content/kerala-psc/study material/sociology/dowry-deaths/
3) https://launchpad.prowritingaid.com/onboarding
4) https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-criticises-misuse-of-anti-dowry-legislation-forpersonalvendetta101733856625146amp.htmlamp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17417941569030&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com
5) https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-criticises-misuse-of-anti-dowry-legislation-for-personal-vendetta-101733856625146-amp.html – amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17417941569030&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com
6) https://indianexpress.com/article/india/supreme-court-criticises-misuse-ipc-section-498a-husbands-kin-9719169/ – :~:text=The%20bench%20further%20said%2C%20%E2%80%9CA,of%20them%2C%E2%80%9D%20it%20added.&text=Tags:,supreme%20court
7) https://www.statista.com/statistics/632553/reported-dowry-death-cases-india/
8) https://study.com/academy/lesson/bridewealth-and-dowry-in-marriage.html – :~:text=Dowry%20can%20be%20defined%20as,on%20the%20grounds%20of%20marriage
9) https://imperialmatrimonial.com/importance-of-marriage/
10) https://www.freelaw.in/legalarticles/Dowry-Prohibition-Laws – :~:text=It%20is%20given%20as%20a,%2C%20demand%2C%20or%20give%20dowry
11) https://indiankanoon.org/doc/93461652/ – Dara Lakshmi Narayana vs. The State of Telangana, (2024)
12) https://indiankanoon.org/doc/2982624/ – Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar & Anr., (2014)
13) https://indiankanoon.org/doc/7148380/ – Satender Kumar Antil vs Central Bureau of Investigation, (2022) 14) https://indiankanoon.org/doc/76640285/ – Kahkashan Kausar @ Sonam vs The State of Bihar, (2022)
15) https://indiankanoon.org/doc/125470413/ – Geeta Mehrotra & Anr. vs State of U.P. & Anr, (2012)
16) https://indiankanoon.org/doc/46704/ – Preeti Gupta & Anr. vs State of Jharkhand & Anr. (2010)
The dowry deaths in India are the major concern which solved through educating the people of the county. And it is important to understand and examine the present laws against Dowry and to deal with the loopholes which had made it ineffective to an extent. We should introduce special fast-track courts to deal with these types of cases to ensure speedy trial and should strengthen the protection mechanism for the victims and their families and ensure stricter enforcement of the existing laws, as many cases go unreported or mishandled.
We should spread awareness among woman and their families through awareness campaigns which is still lacking in our society. In the era of Digital India, we have to use the technologies and social media platforms to deal with this issue, like: – we can use social media to spread awareness and expose dowry-related violence and we have to develop such apps for anonymous reporting of dowry harassment should promoted. And it is important for the parents of the woman to give importance to the education of their girl child, rather to save money for Dowry, they should invest the same for the education, as Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”.
