Indian man jailed for 10 years after his wife committed suicide over dowry harassment

A man has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by an Indian court after it found he abused his wife over their wedding dowry, leading to her death by suicide a year ago.

Kiran Kumar and Vismaya Nair were married for just over one year when she was found dead in the bathroom of her husband’s family home in Kerala last June.

Nair’s family had agreed to give Kumar 100 sovereigns of gold, an acre of land, and a car as a dowry, but he was not happy with the model of the vehicle and demanded more money, according to court documents. Kumar was physically and verbally abusive toward Nair, the judgment said.

While she was alive, Nair had earlier written a message to her to her cousin over the crisis with her husband. She wrote in her message to her cousin in June 2021, “When I opened the door, he pulled my hair, hit me and abused me.”

The district court in Kerala state, Southern India on Tuesday, May 24 found Kiran Kumar guilty under India’s “dowry death” law, which allows charges to be brought against people for causing the death of a woman within the first seven years of a marriage featuring dowry gifts and payments.

Though dowries are illegal but they are common in India. These dowries are wedding gifts given by the bride’s family to the groom’s family.

“She had lost all the charms in life,” the court ruling said.

“She was so desperate. Feeling of despondency surmounted over her. She was severely taunted on account of dowry soon before the death.”

Nair’s brother Vijith reportedly said Kumar had restricted his sister’s social media use, prevented her from calling her parents and even stopped her from flying “because of this dowry.”

“We gave him a good car, but he didn’t stop demanding a bigger and more expensive car,” he said.

He described his sister as a “bright and bold” person who “loved to dance.”

Despite being outlawed under the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act, India’s dowry system remains deeply entrenched in society and has become associated with violence against women.

A charge of “dowry death”, which can also be brought in cases of suicide, is punishable with prison terms ranging from seven years to life.

The National Crime Records Bureau of India states that in 2020, the country recorded more than 10,000 complaints over dowries and nearly 7,000 dowry deaths.

This is a major challenge facing marriages in India.