Man Guilty Of Dowry Death Law In India, Gets 10-Year Prison Term

A man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday in southern India for allegedly abusing his wife over their wedding dowry.

The man was identified as Kiran Kumar who was found by the district court guilty of India’s “dowry death” law. The law allows charges to be brought forward against anyone found responsible for the death of a woman in the first seven years of marriage that featured dowry gifts and payments.

In a report from CNN, Kumar was married to his wife, Vismaya Nair for just over a year. The woman was found dead in the bathroom of her husband’s family home in Kerala last June.

For those who may not be aware, Dowries are illegal but common in India. They are wedding gifts given by the family of the bride to the groom’s family.

Nair's family had agreed to give Kumar 100 sovereigns of gold, an acre of land, and a car as a dowry. However, Kumar was allegedly not happy with the model of the vehicle given and wanted more money. It was added that he was allegedly physically and verbally abusive to the deceased.

"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."

Moreover, in an interview, last year with her brother of Vismaya, Vijith, revealed that Kumar had forbidden his sister to be on social media and also prevented her from calling her parents.

"We gave him a good car, but he didn't stop demanding a bigger and more expensive car," he said.

The brother also described his sister as bright and bold and loved to dance.

Kerala boasts some of the highest literacy rates for both men and women in India and is generally considered a progressive state.

However, according to a World Bank report, this exhibits stark and persistent dowry inflation since the 1970s and has the highest average dowry in recent years.