Suicide is the leading cause of death for married women in India. According to a study published by the medical journal, The Lancet, married women in India accounted for 28,085 of 44,498, or 63 percent of all suicides by women between 2014 and 2020.
The latest data (2024) from the National Crime Records Bureau indicates the same pattern. What is more, young married women in India are at greater risk of suicide than anywhere else in the world. The majority of these women (67.6 percent) were under the age of 30. Their deaths are triggered primarily by marriage-related issues involving an intensely patriarchal custom of dowry (now legally banned), which young brides are expected to keep giving the groom’s family. The failure to fulfill these demands often turns fatal, with the woman either committing suicide or being killed.
Dowry is primarily a South Asian phenomenon and more intrinsically an Indian one. At least 15 dowry-related deaths occur every day in India. Significantly, the domestic violence and torture that the woman is subjected to does not stop with dowry payment. Then comes the pressure to bear male offspring.
Grave crimes of dowry-related torture and deaths are not confined to less educated or economically vulnerable families.
