Elsevier

Burns

Volume 29, Issue 1, February 2003, Pages 31-35
Burns

Burnt wives—a study of suicides

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-4179(02)00235-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Ritual self-immolation has long been practiced in India. Although in the past the practice has been related to the act of sati, it is currently more commonly associated with dowry disputes. In India, dowries are a continuing series of gifts endowed before and after the marriage. When dowry expectations are not met, the young bride may be killed or compelled to commit suicide, most frequently by burning. In a cohort of 152 burned wives, 32 (21%) were immolation suicides and these cases were analyzed from both epidemiological and medicolegal aspects. Suicide by burning amongst women is a major concern in India as it has become pervasive throughout all social strata and geographical areas. In this series, most women were from joint families (i.e. multigenerational groups of related individuals living under a single roof) and the suicides occurred 2–5 years after marriage. The majority of the affected wives were 21–25 years of age (69%) at the time of the suicide and sustained more than a 50% TBSA burn injury after dousing themselves with kerosene. Most died at the time of the incident or within the subsequent 24 h, most commonly from shock.

Introduction

Suicide by burning has historically been linked to Indian society. Since ancient times, woman have performed the act of “sati”, that of throwing themselves onto the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands, and even betrothed women were encouraged to do so. Even today, the act of sati is occasionally encountered. However, increasingly self-immolation has come to be related not to the honorable and respectful act of sati, but rather as a result of onerous dowry demands.

The bestowing of dowries is an ancient tradition. Unlike the western concept of a single “bride payment”, the Indian tradition consists of an ongoing series of gifts both before and after the marriage to “appease” the husband and his family. This is partly due to the differences in family dynamics between the two cultures. In western culture, a young married couple establishes their own home with both partners contributing to the welfare of their new “family”, while in India, the husband’s family takes in the bride, adding a financial burden to the extended family living arrangements. When the dowry demands are not met, husbands and in-laws render significant mental and physical harassment on the young brides in an effort to encourage her family to fulfill their dowry obligations. Desperately seeking an escape from the brutality of their situation, these coward young women choose suicide.

In the dowry prohibition act 1961 of India, dowry is defined as,

“Any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly by:

  • (a)

    one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or

  • (b)

    parents of either party to a marriage or by any other person, to either party to the marriage or to any other person;

at or before or after the marriage”.

Death related to dowries or “dowry deaths” is described under section 304-B of Indian penal code as:

  • (1)

    When the death of a woman is caused by any burns or other bodily injury, or occurs other than under normal circumstances, within 7 years of her marriage, and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or by any relative of her husband’s for, or in connection with any demand for dowry, such deaths will be deemed “dowry death” and her husband or relative will be deemed to have caused her death.

  • (2)

    Whoever commits dowry deaths, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 7 years, but which may extend to life imprisonment.

Section snippets

Material and methods

Of the 270 autopsies performed on married women between 13 June 1987 and 3 February 1989, 152 (56%) were examined by the author. Of these, 32 deaths (21%) were determined to be the result of self-immolation and form the cohort for this study. All autopsies were performed in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (UP).

An in-depth examination of the epidemiological features, medicolegal aspects and familial interactions of these 32

Results

Twenty-five of the 32 women (78%) sustained more than an 80% total body surface area burn (Table 1), most with associated hair singeing and sooty blackening. Seventy percent of these women died within 24 h of their injuries (Fig. 1), most from hypovolaemic shock. Two-thirds of these suicides were associated with kerosene and purposeful ignition (Table 2) and most sustained associated anatomic signs of smoke inhalation, such as soot in the respiratory tract or stomach, generalized visceral

Discussion

Self-immolation suicide in women is very common in Indian society. In this study, approximately 21% of burn related deaths amongst women are due to such suicides. Sen and Banerjee [1] reported a similar proportion of such suicides in Calcutta. Mostly, such suicides after marriage are related to dowry disputes. If dowry demands are not met, husbands and in-laws torture the brides in a number of ways. During the first few years of marital life, the women tolerate the situation with hopes that it

Conclusion

The present study highlights the following features pertaining to the suicidal burnt wife deaths in relation to dowry disputes:

  • 1.

    Suicidal incidents in women because of dowry problems occur usually between 21 and 30 years of age.

  • 2.

    Education amongst women decreases such suicides.

  • 3.

    Incidents occur mostly in joint families.

  • 4.

    Kerosene oil is used as an accelerant of burn in most of the victims.

  • 5.

    TBSA is usually more than 80%.

  • 6.

    Most of the victims die within 24 h of burning.

  • 7.

    Hypovolaemic shock is the major cause

Acknowledgements

I am thankful to Dr. C.B. Tripathi, Prof. and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, IMS, BHU, Varanasi for his constant guidance and help to conduct this study.

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