Dowry is one of those things people in South Asia still defend with a straight face, and honestly, that has always confused me. Travel outside this region and the idea sounds absurd to most people. A man gets married, yet the woman's family is expected to furnish his house, buy his car, hand over cash, jewellery, appliances, sometimes even property. And somehow this is still called culture.

The reality behind it is uglier than the wedding photographs we post online. The lights, the music, the smiling relatives, none of that shows the pressure happening quietly in the background. A father borrowing money he cannot repay. A mother selling jewellery she spent decades saving. Brothers putting their own lives on hold because a sister's marriage has become a financial project instead of a relationship.

India's 2024 figures recorded 5,737 dowry deaths. Sit with that number for a moment. Roughly sixteen women dying........

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