Profile of Dowry Deaths in Garhwal Region of Uttrakhand

One of the most heinous and shocking form of violence against women is dowry deaths. It is one among the various reasons for suicidal and homicidal deaths of women in India. The evil of dowry system is a matter of serious concern to everyone in view of its ever increasing and disturbing proportions. The present study was conducted to evaluate the magnitude and study various socio-etiological factors of dowry deaths. The most common age group to be affected was 21–30 years with 27 cases (61.4%) and first two years of marital life were more prone to dowry deaths with 10 cases (22.7%) followed by 6 years(20.5%). Burns was the cause of death in majority of cases (59.1%) followed by asphyxia (13.6%), accidents (13.6%), poisoning (11.4%) and violence (2.3%). 21 out of 44 cases died accidently while the remaining 23 died due to suicide (13) and homicide (10). Education of females, awareness about laws and strict and timely punishment of offenders will help in controlling dowry deaths.