A victim of “stove burning”, a term usually used to describe attempted killings of wives by their husbands
Violence against women can take many forms, ranging from humiliation, harassment, and exploitation to torture. One of the most heinous and shocking forms of violence against women, bride burning, is usually identified historically and culturally with a particular part of the world. Bride burning is a crime that has long existed in India. The nature and extent of this crime can be considered as a barometer of social health.
In India, the implementation of laws granting rights to women has been slow and haphazard. In Indian society, a woman is traditionally seen as a "goddess" but despite this term of esteem, it is sadly common to read newspaper accounts of young women who have been burnt by their husbands or their in-laws for failing to provide the expected dowry or after infidelity has been suspected. And some women are forced to commit suicide by self-immolation when faced with violent husbands or families.
Burning as a result of dowry demands is a major concern in India, where the bestowing of dowries is an ancient tradition that cuts across many social strata and geographic areas. It consists of an ongoing series of gifts, taking place both before and after the marriage, with the aim of "appeasing" the husband and his family. Whereas in western cultures a young married couple is likely to establish their own home, with both partners contributing to the welfare of their new family, in India the husband's family takes in the bride. This addition often creates a financial burden on the extended family's living arrangements. When dowry demands are not met, husbands and in-laws may threaten to kill the bride by burning her, or they may impose significant mental and physical harassment on the woman in an effort to encourage her family to fulfil their dowry obligations. Alternatively, these young women may choose suicide as an escape from the brutality of their situation. Indian law states that any suspicious death of a married woman within 7 years of her marriage is considered to be a case of dowry death unless proved otherwise by the defendants.
Cultural barriers make it difficult to establish firm epidemiological trends for bride burning; however, recent data suggest an increased reporting of dowry crimes throughout the 1990s. Bride burning was at one time confined to one or two communities in northern India, but evidence suggests that the practice is now spreading to the south. It often occurs in a joint family (ie, a multigenerational group of related individuals living under a single roof) of middle socioeconomic status in which traditional arranged marriages are common. Victims are usually in the early period of their marital life; frequently, although not exclusively, illiterate; and often suffer extensive burns.
In India about 20 000 murders are committed every year, of which women constitute about 10%—15% of the total, ie, about 2000 to 2500 per year. Homicidal burning of married women constitutes a significant proportion of dowry deaths. Although it is difficult to determine accurate numbers throughout the country, extrapolation from our data suggests that homicide may account for 600—750 deaths per year. Others (see Jutla in recommended reading) suggest the figure may be much higher. A 2000 New York Times article quoted an official figure of 6975 dowry deaths in 1998. Because of the nature of the crime, it is improbable, if not impossible, to know its true incidence. The circumstances, however, are commonly described. The incident is often reported to the police by the husband or in-laws as "a stove burst", an accidental burn that took place while the woman was cooking on a primus stove. Or the report may state that the young woman was cooking on a wood-burning stove or oven known as "chulha" or "angithi", or on a gas chulha, when her synthetic-fibre clothing caught fire. But kerosene, a cheap and ubiquitous cooking fuel often used as a weapon, may be found in the victim's hair or clothing, providing evidence of deliberate burning.
Sometimes the death is reported as a suicide (in our study, about 21% of burning deaths). A familiar claim is that the victim burnt herself to death by pouring paraffin oil on her clothes and body and setting herself alight with a match. In such cases, the victim may be defamed and labelled as unstable, and as having demonstrated suicidal tendencies in the past. At autopsy, though, injuries unrelated to the burning can prove homicide as the cause of death.
Wounding, strangulation, smothering, or gunshot wounds can also precede a burning. In such cases, a forensic pathologist may find it difficult to explain the different injuries and their nature, especially in heavily burnt and charred remains. Frequently, the husband and in-laws do not inform the victim's family of her death until after postmortem examination or cremation has occurred. And on occasion, police may suppress the facts for one reason or another, ranging from corruption to bureaucracy. In some cases, however, the parents of the victim appear on the scene and discover the true nature of the crime when a history of threats, marital disharmony, evidence from letters, or other evidence is revealed.
Newly married women may commit suicide after suffering mental or physical harassment. Many uneducated or illiterate women, mainly living in rural villages, may commit suicide to escape further physical torture. As physical torture is less likely to be tolerated among educated women, mental torture (eg, slights, harassment, verbal abuse) is the main cause of abetted suicide.
Historically, suicide by burning has been linked to certain traditions of Indian society. Since ancient times, women have performed the act of “sati”— throwing themselves onto the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands; even betrothed women were encouraged to do so. Today, despite the fact that the practice is officially outlawed, sati still occasionally takes place. Self-immolation as a result of onerous dowry demands is now more common than sati. Accidental burns can also occur. Faulty kerosene stoves, in widespread use especially among the poor in cities, are responsible for thousands of deaths each year, not all of them women. But among women said to be burned in this way, if there are suspicions that the accident was related to overwork, neglect, faulty safety measures in the kitchen, or poor physical condition, the husband and in-laws may still be held responsible.
Doctors in India generally try to avoid deep-rooted family and cultural politics. Their first priority is to save the victim's life with proper treatment and then to inform the police that a crime may have been committed. If the victim is near death, a dying declaration is recorded when possible and forwarded to the police; after death the body is sent for autopsy, when the role of the forensic pathologist is invaluable later in a court of law. Sometimes, however, the way dying declarations are recorded is considered unreliable or inaccurate and thus inadmissible in court. Doctors and others involved in such cases need to be better educated about their roles in this process.
Sudden, mysterious deaths of women early in married life and under suspicious circumstances are so common in India that one can become inured to them. That the practice of bride burning continues today is surely a stain on Indian society. Abolishing this practice requires a number of changes. These include an increase in the standard of education for women, which will encourage economic and emotional independence; proper implementation of existing laws along with new, stricter legislation to abolish dowry-related crimes; and the establishment of voluntary associations to decrease the importance of dowries in general. Community-level programmes are essential, and must include doctors, who bear special responsibilities to help change the social milieu in which this phenomenon occurs.
Bride burning is a major public health problem in India. As long as the problem exists, medical and legal experts are needed to examine the complex nature and causes of the crime. It is essential for professionals to be thoroughly conversant with the circumstances of these crimes, and to act as advocates for these abused women. Perhaps in this way, this onerous practice can be curtailed and eventually eliminated entirely.