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NEW DELHI, Oct 23, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Domestic violence against women in India who do not bring enough wedding dowry is getting worse as consumerism grows in an improving economy.
The National Crime Record Bureau says one death arising from such demands is reported every 77 minutes in the country, The International Herald Tribune reported.
Victim support groups say complaints of dowry harassment are on the rise despite an official ban on the practice which traditionally has been abused by many parents of boys to exploit the girls' side.
"Everyone is becoming more and more Westernized -- they want expensive clothes, they want the consumer objects which are constantly advertised on television. A dowry is seen as an easy way to get them," Varsha Jha, with the Commission for Women in New Delhi, told the Herald Tribune.
The Delhi commission deals with about 40 abused women every day and estimated that approximately 85 percent of these cases are related to dowry demands.
"It is one thing to give and take dowry. But what is really obnoxious is the torture women undergo because the dowry is less than expected," a critic told the newspaper.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
