19 dowry deaths every day, UP tops in killing bride

New Delhi, Mar 11 (UNI) Legal provisions notwithstanding, as many as 19 dowry deaths occur everyday on an average with one woman dying every 77 minutes in the country in 2005 while Uttar Pradesh tops the list with maximum of such crime being perpetrated against the fair sex.

Significantly, more than half cases of dowry deaths resulted in acquittals and people in less than one third cases were convicted.

As many as 6,787 women were killed in the country in 2005 for bringing insufficient dowry in 2005 while 7,026 women had lost their lives on this account in 2004 and 6,208 in 2003, according to the official sources.

The incidents of dowry deaths have shown a mixed trend as it rose by 13.2 per cent in 2004 as compared to 2003 but declined by 3.4 per cent in 2005 as compared to 2004, they pointed out.

Uttar Pradesh topped the list with maximum number of dowry deaths (1,564) being reported from the state in 2005, which, however, was lower than 1,708 in 2004 but higher than 1,322 in 2003. Bihar followed with 1,014 incidents of women being killed for bringing insufficient dowry in 2005, while in 2004, as many as 1,029 such incidents came to light and 909 in 2003.

Madhya Pradesh witnessed 739 dowry deaths in 2005 which was slightly lesser than 751 in 2004 but greater than 648 in 2003. West Bengal has witnessed a consistent increase in the number of dowry deaths with number of such incidents rising from 329 in 2003 to 396 in 2004 and 446 in 2005 while Andhra Pradesh showed a slight decline with 466 dowry deaths in 2003 which increased to 512 in 2004 and 443 in 2005.

Though the number of dowry deaths in Rajasthan was high, it was showing a declining trend from 389 in 2003 to 379 in 2004 to 361 in 2005.

The incidents of dowry deaths were also significant in Maharashtra and Orissa. They reported 341 and 334 such incidents respectively in 2005.

However, Orissa showed a consistent increase in the dowry deaths from 279 in 2003 to 319 in 2004 to 334 in 2005 while Maharashtra has witnessed a mixed trend as the number declined from 368 in 2003 to 314 in 2004 and again rose to 341 in 2005.

States like Karnataka, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Chhatisgarh also reported high number of dowry deaths in the country.

Among the Megapolis, maximum number of dowry deaths occurred in Delhi during 2003-2005, but Chennai showed the maximum percentage increase in such inhuman crime. In Delhi, 114 dowry deaths occurred in 2005 which was lesser than 126 in 2004 and 130 in 2003. In Chennai, where only 18 incidents of dowry deaths were reported in 2003 the incidents rose to 23 in 2004 and 30 in 2005 indicating a 30 per cent rise in the social crime.

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