GUWAHATI, May 7 - In a disturbing trend that we usually relate more with some other parts of the country, Assam has now started recording dowry-related deaths every second day.
However, contrary to the rate of deaths that have taken place owing to this social evil, not a single case has been registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act in Assam since 2015.
This, for many, indicates that the State machinery has completely failed to raise the level of awareness among women in distress, especially when it comes to approaching the law enforcers with dowry-related complaints.
Since 2015, this social evil has, however, accounted for 230 lives of married women, most of the victims being newly married ones (till February 2016).
Worrying is the fact that the gender-based crime has manifested in an alarming manner in the State over the years, thanks to the lack of any effective intervention. A cumulative compilation of statistics shows that nearly 1,500 women had lost their lives in the last 10 years across the State.
The current statistics with the Assam Police goes to show that compared to 2008, when 104 dowry-related deaths were reported in the State, the figure in 2015 went above 100 per cent.
In fact, in the first two months of the current year, already 24 women have lost their lives, unable to bear the pressure exerted by either her husband or her in-laws to fulfil their materialistic demands.
�Like suicide, it is more of a social problem than a law and order issue. Of course, proper conviction can be a deterrent, but the menace has to be dealt with from the root,� Assam Police sources told this reporter.
�However, there is no denying the fact that women are subjected to different forms of violence. At the same time, the number of false and concocted complaints made by women against her husband and in-laws has also increased,� sources divulged.
A victim of dowry demand, requesting anonymity, said that as the conviction rate of such cases is far from being satisfactory, the victims very often are found reluctant. �This is where the support from the family and friends come in handy. In many cases, we have found that the parents do not take the plight of their daughter that seriously, which eventually proves fatal,� she said.
