Why thousands of women across India are still being lost to dowry violence

Key points

• Dowry deaths persist in India despite being outlawed, with women facing relentless demands for cash and property, often leading to violence and suicide.
• India outlawed dowry in 1961. More than six decades later, thousands of women still die every year in marriages shaped by money, status and coercion.
• Deepika Nagar's dowry case A crime that never disappeared The demands rarely stop after marriage Why dowry survives modern India The economics behind dowry Marriage still remains unequal More than 90% of marriages between 1960 and 2005 involved parental involvement in spouse selection.
• Nearly all marriages remain monogamous.
• Less than 1% end in divorce.