Dowry Deaths Falling In India, But A Woman Still Dies Every 90 Minutes

The recent deaths of Twisha Sharma, a Noida resident who died at her marital home in Bhopal, and Deepika Nagar in Greater Noida have once again brought attention to dowry-related violence in India. While both cases are currently under investigation and have triggered public outrage, official data suggests that such incidents are not isolated but part of a continuing pattern seen over the years.

India recorded 5,737 dowry deaths in 2024, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. This marks a decline compared to previous years, but the numbers remain significant enough to highlight the scale of the issue.

A look at the past decade shows that dowry deaths have gradually decreased from 7,634 cases in 2015 to 5,737 in 2024. While this decline of nearly 1,900 cases may indicate some improvement, the data still translates into more than 15 dowry-related deaths every day across the country. This suggests that the problem continues to persist at a large scale despite a downward trend.

The distribution of these cases is not uniform. A few states account for a disproportionate share of dowry deaths. Uttar Pradesh alone reported 2,038 cases in 2024, accounting for over one-third of the national total. Bihar followed with 1,078 cases, while Madhya Pradesh reported 450. Rajasthan and West Bengal also recorded high numbers, with 386 and 337 cases, respectively. The concentration of cases in these states indicates that dowry-related violence remains deeply embedded in certain regions.

Dowry deaths include a range of causes, including suicides and other unnatural deaths linked to harassment. However, NCRB data also captures cases of direct violence classified as 'dowry murders'. In 2024, West Bengal reported 163 such cases, closely followed by Odisha with 161. Rajasthan recorded 75 cases, while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh reported 66 and 58 cases, respectively. These figures point to instances where dowry disputes escalate into direct and fatal violence.

The larger context of these deaths is reflected in the number of cases registered under 'cruelty by husbands and their relatives'. In 2024, India recorded over 1.20 lakh such cases, continuing a pattern seen over the last decade where annual figures have consistently remained above one lakh.

States with the highest number of cruelty cases largely overlap with those reporting high dowry deaths. Uttar Pradesh recorded more than 21,000 such cases in 2024, while West Bengal reported over 19,000. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Telangana also recorded more than 10,000 cases each, indicating that the issue extends beyond extreme outcomes like death and reflects a broader pattern of sustained harassment.

Pending cases under the Dowry Prohibition Act also point to delays in the system. NCRB data shows that over the years, a significant share of cases filed with police remain unresolved, with pendency consistently staying between 30% and 40%. In 2024 alone, around 37% of registered cases were still pending.

While the number of cases has remained relatively stable over time, the persistently high pendency indicates that a large portion of complaints are not getting timely closure