Bride burning

Bride burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. A form of dowry death, bride-burning occurs when a woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family's refusal to pay additional dowry. The wife is typically doused with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and set alight, leading to death by burning.^[1][2] Kerosene is often used as the cooking fuel for small petrol stoves, some of which are dangerous, so it allows the claim that the crime was an accident. It is most common in India and has been a major problem there since at least 1993.^[3]

Bride burning has been recognized as an important problem in India,^[4] accounting for around 2,500^{[failed verification]} deaths per year in the country.^[4] In 1995, Time magazine reported that dowry deaths in India increased from around 400 a year in the early 1980s to around 5,800 a year by the middle of the 1990s.^[5] A year later, CNN ran a story saying that police receive more than 2,500 reports of bride burning every year.^[6] According to Indian National Crime Record Bureau, there were 1,948 convictions and 3,876 acquittals in dowry death cases in 2008.^[7]