Manika Jha, Janakpurdham
“How much is a life worth? Many say it’s priceless. But life for some Madhesi women has become even cheaper than their sindoor (the vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women along their hair parting). This is happening largely because of disputes over dowry.
Sunita Devi from Birgunj is a recent victim. She endured 15 years of torture for failing to bring ‘adequate’ dowry. She succumbed to her injuries on March 29 at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where she was brought after she was beaten senseless by her husband Sachitananda Yadav, a medical doctor.
Sunita’s family, which hails from Parwanipur in the district of Bara, spent Rs 2 million to get her married to a doctor. But Yadav’s greed for more dowry was insatiable. He demanded a car and a house from his in-laws, which they could not fulfill. And so torture against Sunita intensified, according to her parents.
Rani Sharma Tiwari, a provincial MP, blames educated parents for keeping the practice alive
In Janakpurdham, 25-year-old Seema Sharma and her 18-month-old daughter were reportedly poisoned to death in January, because her family could not meet dowry demands. Seema’s family had given Rs 800,000 in cash, two tolas of gold and a motorcycle so that she could get married to an educated man. But a few years into their marriage, Seema’s life was made hellish by her in-laws. The dowry demands kept mounting, and so did the mental and physical torture against Seema, says her aunt Sarita Sharma.
The story of 20-year-old Kriti Jha from Dhanusha is similar. Kriti was married to Randhir Mishra, a businessman from Madhubani district in the Indian state of Bihar. Kriti’s family had given Rs 300,000 in dowry. But just four months into their wedding, Mishra’s family started asking for more, and torturing her. “In the end, they killed her,” says Kriti’s brother Rajeev Jha. Kriti’s body was found in a pond in her village in August 2018.
On 22 November 2018, 22-year-old Ranjana Sharma from Janakpur, who was studying to be a nurse, was found dead in her own bed. Her husband Ananda Mohan Sharma, who works at Pokhara Hospital, beat her repeatedly because her family could not meet his dowry demands. (Neighbors say there had been a bad altercation between Ranjana and her husband a day before her death.) Ranjana’s family had given a dowry worth Rs 1.8 million to Ananda, but he kept asking for more.
Rekha Jha, an advocate, says that although asking for a dowry is a crime, it shows no sign of ending as those involved are socially protected. “So long as the society does not boycott the practice, women will continue to face torture and violence,” she says.
Rani Sharma Tiwari, a provincial assembly member, blames educated parents for keeping the practice alive. “Parents whose daughters endure torture due to dowry disputes do not speak up for fear of losing their dignity. Instead they ask their daughters to adapt,” she says.
Likewise, Subhadra Ale, who served in the Nepal Police for 17 years and now works to control gender-based violence, says, “It’s mostly women from educated families who are the victims of such violence. When a woman’s family cannot meet the dowry demands negotiated prior to the wedding, torture against the newly married bride starts. So long as parents offer dowries, the cycle of violence will not stop,” says Ale.
