Dowry Law Page #2

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"There is no marriage,

so what are we talking about?"

So you see we have a law,

and we have a caste system,

and we have a Panchayat,

and we have families.

And you have dowry

and it all makes a mess.

And everyone...

I mean you know, it is funny,

but at the same time

it's you know--

a woman has died in this.

And they're saying

she has burnt herself

while boiling milk.

Which is possible, but you know,

only the women are boiling milk

and then they are

burning themselves off like--

And always the young ones.

The mothers-in-law

do not boiling milk and dying.

[]

[Adam]

Tihar Jail in Delhi

is the largest prison in Asia.

[]

[Adam]

It's visiting day,

but these women

and their children

are on the wrong side

of the bars.

All are in prison

for dowry crime,

in many cases jailed for setting

their daughters-in-law on fire.

[muttering]

[Adam]

Anjel is the resident

social worker in Tihar.

This block is exclusively

for mothers-in-law,

more than a hundred of them.

The numbers are growing

all the time.

[muttering in distance]

[speaking in Hindi]

Dowry-related death.

[Anjel]

That's right.

So she's been convicted

of killing--

[Anjel]

Yeah.

Her daughter-in-law, yeah.

What's she been accused of?

[speaking in Hindi]

The daughter-in-law died.

[Adam]

How did-- how did she die?

[speaking in Hindi]

[Anjel]

The daughter-in-la

gave the dying declaration

that the in-laws

held her hands, daughter--

sister-in-law put fire to her

and the husband poured kerosene

over her.

But the husband is out,

the rest of the family

is inside the jail.

[Adam]

Dowry crime

was spiraling out of control.

And the government passed laws,

so that anyone

even remotely connected

to the death of a wife

can be thrown in jail.

If a bride dies

in the first seven years

of marriage,

her family can file a charge

alleging dowry crime.

All the in-laws

can be imprisoned.

[]

[Adam]

I came across mothers, sisters,

sons, daughters, aunts,

even nieces and nephews,

all behind bars in Tihar.

This is--

[speaking in Hindi]

[Adam]

Some are growing up in jail

simply because

their families are here.

Who's this?

This is the son

of one of the women

who's in the-- who's in the--

this cell?

Yeah.

Her sister-in-law died,

so this is one

of the sisters-in-law, her son.

[Adam]

Yeah.

Raja, Raja, Raja.

[woman speaking in Hindi]

[Adam]

This old woman and her daughter

have done two years

of a 20-year sentence

for murder.

The son wasn't charged.

The women claim

they weren't there

when the daughter-in-law died.

[Anjel]

The daughter-in-law

bolted the door from inside

and put herself on fire.

How is she responsible

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