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40 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 291 (2006-2007)
Deterring Dowry Deaths in India: Applying Tort Law to Reverse the Economic Incentives That Fuel the Dowry Market

handle is hein.journals/sufflr40 and id is 307 raw text is: SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW Volume XL 2007 Number 2 Deterring Dowry Deaths in India: Applying Tort Law to Reverse the Economic Incentives That Fuel the Dowry Market Sunil Bhave1 I. INTRODUCTION Time did not stop on May 21, 2001, in Banglore, India. But for Rinki, a 2 newly-married nineteen-year-old housewife, this day was her last one alive. Rinki had been married to a man named Anil for barely a month before she turned up dead. Rinki was allegedly tortured and set on fire by Anil's family.3 The circumstances surrounding this heinous murder were a familiar scene in rural India. Soon after Rinki married Anil, Anil's father demanded that Rinki's family buy him a motorcycle and a color television to replace the black and white television set they provided as dowry.4 Rinki's family was unable to meet such demands. Consequently, Anil's family allegedly subjected Rinki to severe physical torture, and, on one Saturday morning in Banglore, Rinki was found charred to death after having been doused with kerosene and set ablaze.5 It was another incident of a dowry death.6 1. Elbow Law Clerk to the Honorable James J. Brady, District Judge of the Middle District of Louisiana. J.D., St. Louis University, 2004. 1 am indebted to Professor Constance Wagner for her initial review of and comments on this Article. Also, I owe my mentor, Professor David Sloss, much thanks for his guidance and support. Elizabeth Kent, Matthew Tikonoff, and the entire Suffolk University Law Review staff deserve credit for bringing this Article to print. Finally, the analysis in this Article should in no way be construed to reflect the views of my boss, mentor, and friend, Judge James Brady, his staff, or the Middle District of Louisiana. 2. See Amanda Hitchcock, Rising Number of Dowry Deaths in India, WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE, July 4, 2001, http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/jul200l/ind-j04.shtml. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Id. The use of burning by kerosene in dowry deaths is very common in India. See Meghana Shah, Note, Rights Under Fire: The Inadequacy of International Human Rights Instruments in Combating Dowry Murder in India, 19 CONN. J. INT'L L. 209, 213 (2003); see also Celia W. Dugger, Kerosene, Weapon of Choice forAttacks on Wives in India, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 26, 2000, at Al. 6. See infra text accompanying note 73 (defining crime of dowry death). Judge Arijit Pasayat stated

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