Dowry Deaths In 2025: How Many More Young Brides Must Lose Their Lives Before India Truly Ends This Practice?

Add as a preferred source on Google

A few weeks ago, the brutal Noida dowry murder case shook the nation when 26-year-old Nikki Bhati was allegedly set on fire by her husband and in-laws in front of her child, after relentless demands for cash and luxury vehicles. Despite her family having already provided money, gold, and vehicles, the harassment reportedly continued until it ended in her death.

Now, another heartbreaking case has surfaced in Bengaluru. Shilpa, a 27-year-old software engineer, was found dead at her Suddaguntepalya home. Her parents allege that relentless dowry harassment pushed her to this tragic end, despite them fulfilling repeated demands for money and gold. The complaint also includes claims that she was taunted about her skin colour. Police have since registered a case, and her husband has been detained for questioning.

Why, in 2025, does this practice still exist? The answers lie in cultural pressures, social status anxieties, and a silence that allows it to flourish.

The Law Exists, But So Does Loophole Culture

The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 criminalised dowry, but enforcement has been patchy at best. Many families sidestep the law by calling cash or jewellery "voluntary gifts." Social acceptance makes it harder to challenge, and victims often fear that speaking up will mean ruined marriages or broken homes.

Why Families Still Demand It

Social status: Dowry becomes a way for families to "measure up" in society. Bigger sums, more lavish gifts, higher prestige.

Economic safety net: Some still view dowry as financial security for the groom or his family.

Fear of rejection: Brides' families often agree out of fear their daughters may not find "suitable matches" otherwise.

Generational pressure: Older relatives normalise it by saying "this is how it's always been done."

Patriarchal mindset: Deep-rooted gender inequality positions the bride as a "burden" and the groom as an "asset," making financial demands appear justified to some.

How Customs Like 'Vartula' Normalise Dowry

In some parts of India, the practice goes beyond cash and gifts, it takes on ritualised forms. One such system, still reported in certain communities, is called 'Vartula'. Here, the bride is weighed against gold, silver, or money, and her family is expected to match or exceed that weight in offerings. On the surface, it is dressed up as a tradition or a ceremonial blessing. But in reality, it reduces a woman to her physical weight, turning her into a symbol of transactional value rather than a person beginning a partnership. Customs like these not only dehumanise women but also legitimise the idea that marriage is incomplete without material exchange.

The Human Cost

The numbers remain haunting. Between 2017 and 2022, more than 35,000 brides are reported to have lost their lives due to dowry harassment-an average of nearly 20 women per day. In 2022 alone, there were 6,516 such deaths, a figure that shockingly persists into 2025. Worsening the crisis, Madhya Pradesh alone documented 459 dowry-related deaths in 2024, followed by 239 in the first half of 2025, equivalent to one death nearly every day in the state. Even at local levels, the toll remains tragic: in Pimpri-Chinchwad, there have already been 30 dowry-linked deaths so far in 2025. Each of these numbers is a life lost, a family devastated, a future cut short and they remind us of the urgent need to end this deep-rooted injustice.

Changing The Conversation

In 2025, the issue isn't whether we talk about dowry, but how we do it. By making the issue personal, empathetic, and practical every person has a role in changing the narrative.

Recognise the pain: Each case is more than a headline. It is a woman's story, and a family's grief.

Shift the spotlight: Look beyond statistics-listen to women who resisted dowry, and celebrate couples who chose equality over tradition.

Highlight resistance: Across India, families are refusing dowry, organising simple weddings, and encouraging reform. Small acts of defiance matter.

Invite reflection: Ask yourself-have I, even silently, played a role in keeping this practice alive? If yes, what steps can I take to break the cycle?

From Tradition To Transformation

The path forward isn't in new laws, it's in cultural refusal. Dowry practices survive when people stay silent. They begin to erode when they are questioned everyday, rejected, and the next generation is raised without them. Every conversation, every simple wedding, every couple that sends an invitational message of equality, that's progress.

Shilpa's death, like Nikki's, is not just another statistic, it's a call to awaken. We can choose to respond not with despair, but with changed behavior. If each of us takes even one small step, we become part of the transformation.