The big story

In a country where 17 women are killed every day because of dowry, this one might have been completely unremarkable except for the fact that it happened, allegedly, in the presence of her six-year-old son. In the face of mounting outrage, it was hard to tell what generated the greater public anger: The violence with which she died or her child’s exposure to it.

The death of 28-year-old Nikki Bhati on August 21 was the culmination of a series of events that began soon after her marriage. Her father had married Nikki and her sister, Kanchan into the same family, assuming that would give them an extra patina of protection.

He was wrong. Neither the marriage nor their dowry guaranteed their safety. There was a grand wedding, expenses for which were borne by the sisters’ family. The demand and supply of gifts never ended. In one of the videos, Nikki is driving a Mercedes car. It belonged to her father. Her husbands’ family wanted one too.

In a transactional barter one must ask: What did Nikki and her sister, Kanchan get out of this wedding? By all accounts, they seem like spirited women who posted reels on social media and dreamt of running their own beauty salon.

Nikki’s husband Vipin, we are told, was unemployed and, if her brother is to be believed, a womanizer. He was also

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