Dowry death: law panel recommends harsher punishment

The commission prepared the report in the backdrop of demands raised from various quarters for stricter punishment for the offence of dowry death. People complained that the present law on dowry death, enacted in 1986, had failed to bring down significantly the incidents of dowry death and hence death sentence for such offences should be allowed in the law.

After examining the existing provisions of law related to murder and its interpretation by the courts, the commission arrived at the conclusion that the offence of dowry deaths is distinguished from the offence of murder in absence of direct connection between the husband and the death of wife. Moreover, the presumptive character of the offence of dowry death principle of proportionality also goes against the proposed prescription of death sentence in case of dowry death.