Till death us do part

摘要

At india's largest burns centre in Victoria Hospital, Bangalore, a macabre scene is played out with horrifying regularity. A badly burnt woman is brought in by her husband and in-laws. The woman claims a kerosene stove burst in the kitchen, and the doctor notes her statement. Hours or days later she dies, and the police dismiss the case as an accident. A new study, the first of its kind, provides appalling proof of what many in India already acknowledge - that many of these "accidents" are in fact dowry-related murders or forced suicides, acts of unimaginable violence against wives who can't meet their husbands' and in-laws' demands for yet more money. The study suggests that in spite of India's strict anti-dowry laws and long-running campaigns by women's groups, incidents like these are on the rise across India. Worse still, the guilty nearly always go unpunished, experts told New Scientist, either because police and forensic pathologists fail to investigate the cases, or because rampant corruption scuttles them at a later stage. Women's rights activists, doctors, lawyers and judges are demanding strict enforcement of the existing laws. Otherwise thousands of women will suffer a brutal death and millions more will continue to endure violence and intimidation.