Lower thirds:

00:03 Report / Manira Chaudhary and Richard Kujur
00:06 Kriti (name changed) | Survivor
00:49 Manira Chaudhary | DW Reporter
01:34 Monika Tiwary | Shakti Shalini NGO
02:14 Anjali Thakur | Shakti Shalini NGO
03:13 Garima Tiwari | Twisha Sharma’s cousin
03:50 Prachi Kaushik | Social Activist

Script:

00.01 
SOT: Kriti (name changed), Survivor:  
“My husband grabbed me by my neck, pulled me into the room, locked the door, and beat me badly." 
 “Many times I thought I should just end my life. My in-laws would ask me to leave. 
My parents asked me to adjust. I had no option and no place to go.” 

00.21 

VO: She is 24. We're calling her Kriti, which is not her real name, because she is still in fear for her life. 

Over four years of marriage, she was mentally pressured, beaten and sexually assaulted by her husband. All of it, over dowry. 

00.38 
SOT: Kriti (name changed), Survivor: “My parents gave them a car, cash, furniture,  when I got married. They’d say wanted a bigger car.” 

00.48 
PTC: Dowry, in simple terms, refers to “gifts” a bride’s family is expected to give the groom’s family at the time of marriage and often beyond. Depending on the families’ social and economic standing, it can range from cash and appliances to gold, cars and property. Originally intended to secure the bride’s future, it has over time become a social obligation. In many cases, it is coercion. 

01.16 

VO: Kriti ran away from her husband's family and found shelter at Shakti Shalini, an NGO that supports survivors of gender and sexual violence. At the time, she could not see the pattern, a common issue for many of the women here/ for many women who come here seeking help. 

01.32 
SOT: Monika Tiwary, Shakti Shalini NGO: “Even if the harassment is because of the dowry, the beatings are for dowry, the abuse is for dowry, they would come and talk about the abuse that is happening. But the core of the reason why this is happening, very few survivors will be able to decode it and say, you know, I was harassed and abused because of this. It is that normalized.” 

01.53 
VO:  Shakti Shalini was started in 1987 by two women whose daughters were burnt to death over dowry demands. Today, the organization handles nearly a thousand cases a year. 

Even though the practice has been banned in India since 1961, activists say it continues to be rampant. 

02.12 
SOT: Anjali Thakur, Shakti Shalini NGO: “In the 90s, anti-dowry laws were reformed. But even then, even the legal systems are in place, I think deep down it is the mentality, deep down it is the social norm to ask for things from a woman’s family. As per the official data, in 2024, every 90 minutes, a woman died by either suicide or was killed due to insufficient dowry or dowry harassment.” 

02.44 
The scale of the problem became impossible to ignore earlier this year, when one case reached the national headlines. Twisha Sharma, former model and actor, was found dead in her marital home.  

Her family alleges she was harassed and killed over dowry demands. Her mother-in-law and husband, who claim innocence, are in judicial custody. The case is under investigation. 

03.08 
SOT: Garima Tiwari, Twisha Sharma’s cousin: “Twisha was very brave, very bold, very vocal. If this could… can happen to her. It can happen to anyone now.” 

03.20 
VO: Thousands have taken to social media to demand justice for her. 

03.27 
VO: To make sure the momentum doesn't fade, some are taking these conversations where they matter most, into homes and neighbourhoods. In this temple courtyard, women are being guided to recognise abuse, question it, and challenge it. The focus goes beyond the law, toward the inequality inside their own homes.  

03.49 
SOT: Prachi Kaushik, Social Activist: “ Women feel scared to step out and complain as they feel they’ll have nowhere to go after that. We have turned this silence into culture. We have to break this silence. When it comes to the rights of a woman, she does not have to fight a man, she has to fight the entire society.’ 

04.09 
VO: That’s exactly what Kriti is trying to do. 

04.14 
SOT: Kriti (name changed), Survivor: “If this practice ends, daughters will not be treated as burden, they will be treated equal to boys… I want to be independent now. I have suffered a lot. I want to live alone. Live the way I want.  

END