On August 21, 2025, Nikki Bhati, a 28-year-old woman from Greater Noida, was allegedly set on fire by her husband and in-laws for not fulfilling a Rs 36 lakh dowry demand. Her family says that they had already stretched themselves meeting the demands of the groom’s family at the time of her wedding. Yet, the demands continued. Nikki’s four-year-old son tragically witnessed the attack; she died of burn injuries while being rushed to a hospital. The police have arrested four family members. 

Even as the outrage has grown, the deeper story is about the uncertain grind of justice in cases of violence against women marked by conflicting accounts. There are CCTV claims, alternate explanations (a cylinder blast theory), contested evidence and a system where convictions are rare and delays, long.

Nikki’s story is one among thousands that show how violence against women in India remains both normalised, pervasive and still neglected. The latest NCRB data revealed that dowry-related deaths increased by 14% in 2023. Every day, roughly 16 women lose their lives to dowry-linked cruelty – an age-old crime thriving in a modern economy. 

There’s little accounting for the suffering of those who aren’t killed but continue to face harassment due to these demands.

However, dowry is only one of the many faces of a broader epidemic. Violence against women in India takes diverse forms – including physical, sexual, emotional and financial harassments. While physical assault is still the most visible; sexual violence, including forced intercourse within marriage, is yet to be criminalised. 

Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS, 2023): “Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape.” Meanwhile, emotional violence – humiliation, threats, or isolation – is considered routine, and financial abuse through denial of work, control of property and forced dependence traps women in abusive homes.

According to the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (2019-21), about a third of ever-married women aged between 18-49 years reported having experienced spousal violence. Around 14% reported emotional violence, and 6% reported sexual violence. 

What is perhaps more disturbing is that 47% of currently married women and 43% of currently married men believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife under some circumstances – if she argues, goes out without permission, or neglects household duties, among others. These attitudes sustain silence, pushing survivors to accept abuse as “normal”.

Reporting violence comes with myriad complications. For many women, the abuser is a husband, or her in-laws – the very people on whom they depend financially and socially. Accusing them can mean losing the marital home, custody of children, and even their standing in the community. 

Police apathy and court delays exacerbate the situation: between 2017 and 2022, Bengaluru saw only 1% convictions under Section 498A Indian Penal Code for cruelty by husband or relatives. For marginalised women, especially in rural areas, access to shelters, transport or legal aid is rare, adding another hurdle to justice.

Beyond homes, public and digital spaces have become unsafe. In major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Jaipur, surveys show that four in ten women feel unsafe while travelling or working. Online, women face a new arsenal of abuse – cyberstalking, deepfakes, doxxing and blackmail – that can destroy reputations and mental health. Recent AI-generated “nudified” images of Indian women circulated on social media show how technology is outpacing regulation, pushing many women offline.

Treating this as a law-and-order problem alone will never be enough. Violence must be recognised not only as a social malaise, but also as a public-health emergency. It has a range of adverse effects on physical, mental and reproductive health –v from injuries to unwanted pregnancies, sexually-transmitted infections, depression and anxiety. Healthcare workers, especially ASHAs and ANMs, are often the first point of contact for survivors, yet few are trained to recognise or respond to gender-based violence. Hospitals and primary health centres must be equipped to screen sensitively for abuse, document injuries, offer counselling confidentially and connect survivors to legal and social-support services, which need to be strengthened significantly. Training of ASHA workers, nurses and doctors must become routine, not optional.

Equally, the fight cannot be waged by women alone. Men and boys must be part of the solution. Changing masculine ideals – from dominance to care, from entitlement to respect – is essential. For this reason, the Population Foundation of India has undertaken campaigns such as Desh Badlega Jab Mard Badlega (The Country Will Change, When Men Change) show that progress requires men to share domestic work, reject dowry and stand against violence and discrimination they see around them. If we don’t transform the norms around how we bring up men, laws will continue to chase symptoms, not causes.

The 16 Days of Activism campaign, from November 25 to December 10, is not just a symbolic observance; it is a call to treat gender-based violence as a collective, national priority. Policymakers, health systems, educators, community leaders and citizens must work together to end the silence. 

This year, the campaign calls on everyone to unite to end digital violence against women and girls, highlighting the urgent need to make online spaces safe, inclusive, and free from harassment, exploitation and silencing.

Until every woman can live free from fear – in her home, online, at work, and on the street – India’s promise of equality will remain unfulfilled. Justice for women like Nikki Bhati must not be an exception. It must be the rule.

Poonam Muttreja is the executive director at the Population Foundation of India. 

Martand Kaushik is a senior specialist - media and communications, Population Foundation of India.

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