India recorded 5,737 dowry-linked deaths in 2024, an average of around 16 women a day. Despite being outlawed more than six decades ago, the practice of dowry – the transfer or money or valuables from a bride's family when she gets married – remains deeply entrenched across Indian society. Our correspondents report.
Dowry refers to the transfer of money, property, vehicles, jewellery or other valuables from a bride's family to the groom or his family as part of a marriage arrangement. The practice was outlawed under India's Dowry Prohibition Act in 1961, but demands for cash and goods continue to be made before and after weddings.
