Indian Parliament Outlaws Dowries to Curb Bride Burning
India’s Parliament passed a tough law Friday that outlaws dowries in a bid to stop the practice of burning to death brides who do not bring as much property to their marriage as the groom’s family wants.
The bill, which still needs the signature of President Zail Singh to become law, provides for life imprisonment for some dowry offenses and makes some non-bailable.
Bride burning already is considered murder and can be punishable by death, but such killings usually are camouflaged as cooking accidents and rarely are proven. Reliable statistics on the number of dowry deaths are not available, but reports of alleged bride burnings appear in Indian newspapers almost daily.
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