Because it is a severe kind of domestic violence, and it's hardly reported. And the blame goes on the stove, the blame goes on the gas cylinder, etc., etc. So it's looked upon as accident, not as death. From talking to law practitioners and administrators, Himendra Thakur estimates that there are around 12,000 deaths a year, and at least as many crippling injuries from dowry violence. Ms. Joshi says bride burning is a manifestation of the low value that is placed on women's lives.
Statistics show that in India, infant mortality is ten percent higher for girls than it is for boys.
So I would consider all these quite interrelated with bride-burning. So it just shows the status of women, how low, inferior it is. Mr. Thakur thinks a girl child is undesirable precisely because of the burden her required dowry places on her family. This mentality is so ingrained, he says, that even highly educated women, like medical doctors, who could contribute financially to the family, still fall victim to bride burning. One factor that fuels the dowry problem, according to Mr. Thakur, is the lack of equal inheritance rights for women.