Three women, one track: allegations of dowry and ‘take me home’ pleas that rang hollow

Three young women in India died from dowry deaths due to abusive marriages. The families alleged that their daughters were harassed and physically and mentally abused, leading to a decline in divorce cases. Dowry is still not stigmatised but divorce remains a contentious issue in India. New Delhi, "Please take me home"… Trapped in abusive marriages and allegedly taunted for not bringing in enough dowry, that was perhaps the sentiment if not the words that echoed hollow in the last days of three young women found dead in their marital homes this month. Because Twisha Sharma in Bhopal, Deepika Nagar in Noida and Palak Ranjan in Gwalior never could go back to the safety of their parental homes. Their deaths clouded in allegations of dowry demands, their parents grieving and in despair. In all three cases, the families alleged that the in-laws demanded dowry through money and gifts and harassed their daughters mentally and physically. Reframed in discourse as gifts and lavish parties, dowry is still not stigmatised but divorce is. Every day, an average 16 women somewhere in India die because of dowry. According to the latest data by the National Crime Records Bureau , there were 5,737 dowry deaths in 2024, down from 6,156 the year before but still amounting to 478 a month. Besides, there are 59,446 cases under Section 80 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, earlier Section 304B of Indian Penal Code, pending for trial in different courts across the country with a conviction rate of just about 46 per cent. Twisha, Deepika and Palak were a small part of this statistical jigsaw, but important cases in point. The legal framework exists but burdened by massive delays that stymie efforts to build in confidence in women and change societal norms. Their deaths raise questions, both moral and legal: Why couldn't their families take them home? Why didn't they seek help? Isn't the law in their favour? Will they ever find justice? The answers, according to experts, reveal a social structure that restricts a woman's autonomy through psychological conditioning, expectations of propriety and social shame, and a legal ecosystem that despite being strong is burdened by an ever-increasing pile of pending dowry death cases and low conviction rates. "It's not that at present I'm not able to walk out, I do. I have money and I have everything. It's more about 'do I have the option of walking out?' 'Will people accept me?' So even though you feel financially independent. But in the mind, do you feel free?" asked forensic psychologist Dr Deepti Puranik, "Then there are factors like family and children. So is the person actually free to take the decision of walking out... that in itself becomes a very important question to be asked," added Puranik, associate professor at the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai. As she sees it, women are brought up with certain beliefs when it comes to marriages that make them mentally unable to walk out of toxic marriages. Caught