Emotional Abuse and Dowry Harassment in India: The Pain Behind Recent Cases

Every day, another heartbreaking news story appears.

A young bride loses her life.
A woman is found dead inside her marital home.
Another family is left shattered forever.

Some cases are called suicide.
Some are described as accidents.
Some become public battles between two families sharing completely different versions of the truth.

But in the end, one painful reality remains the same – a woman is gone.

In modern India, where technology, education, and social media are growing rapidly, it is heartbreaking that issues like dowry harassment, emotional abuse in marriage, domestic violence, and mental torture of women still continue inside many homes.

People proudly say women have reached the moon.
But here on earth, many women are still fighting for respect, emotional safety, and equality inside their own marriages.

Even our traditions spoke about honouring women. Love, respect, and partnership were considered sacred. Yet today, many women continue to suffer silently under emotional pressure, physical abuse, humiliation, and control within families.

That is why recent discussions around the Twisha Sharma case have emotionally affected so many people across the country.

Like many others, I have also been following the case closely. Not because I want to decide who is guilty – that is the responsibility of the court and investigation – but because some public statements and reactions have deeply disturbed many people emotionally.

Before the final rites of a young woman were even completed, discussions had already started about her character, habits, rituals, and personal life. Questions about whether she watered plants, kept fasts, performed religious rituals, or how she behaved before marriage were publicly discussed after her death.

When a woman is no longer alive to defend herself, reducing her existence to accusations and criticism feels heartbreaking.

And this is where society needs to reflect seriously.
Because abuse is not always visible.

Sometimes domestic abuse begins quietly.
Sometimes emotional abuse slowly destroys a person from within.

Many women in Indian marriages continue to face silent treatment, emotional manipulation, insults, threats, taunts, isolation, controlling behaviour, mental pressure, and humiliation every single day. Some women are physically abused. Some are beaten, slapped, pushed, or harmed inside homes that are supposed to protect them.

Not always but in some cases, even mothers-in-law contributes to that suffering instead of becoming emotional support systems.

Mental abuse can damage a person deeply.
Emotional torture can slowly destroy confidence, peace, self-worth, and hope.

No outsider truly knows what happens behind closed doors.
And if even a small public glimpse feels this disturbing, one can only imagine the emotional pain many women silently tolerate every day inside unsafe marriages.

What is even more shocking is that such situations are not limited to uneducated households. Even educated, modern, socially respected families can sometimes normalize greed, emotional cruelty, domination, or toxic control over daughters-in-law.

Dowry may officially be illegal in India, but in reality, dowry culture still exists in many forms.

Today it may not always be openly called “dowry.”
Sometimes it is hidden behind words like “gifts,” “expectations,” “tradition,” or “family standards.”
Luxury weddings. Cars. Flats. Jewellery. Cash. Expensive gifts. Endless expectations.

And still, many women are not treated with dignity after marriage.

One of the saddest realities of our society is that even today, many people still treat sons and daughters differently.

In some families, the birth of a son is celebrated like an achievement, while the birth of a daughter is treated like a burden. And this mindset itself becomes the root of many social problems later including dowry pressure, emotional abuse, and the mistreatment of women after marriage.

It is heartbreaking that in today’s modern world, some people still behave as if having a son gives them power over families who have daughters as if daughters exist only to fulfil endless demands and expectations.

At a time when women are winning world championships, leading companies, serving the country, reaching space, and proving themselves in every field, it is painful that many are still denied basic respect inside their own homes.

Real progress is not just about technology or modern lifestyles. A society cannot truly call itself modern if daughters are still seen as “less” than sons.

I consider myself fortunate that my parents never treated sons and daughters differently. We were raised with equal love, equal dignity, and equal value. But sometimes, that equality remains limited only to one’s own home. Beyond that, no parent can truly know what kind of family their daughter will enter after marriage, what mindset exists there, or how she will actually be treated once she leaves her own safe space behind.

If every family adopted the mindset of treating sons and daughters equally, perhaps many women would not suffer the way they do today.

Dowry culture survives because somewhere, society still places sons above daughters.

Some people raise sons and begin behaving as if they are superior to others, while someone else’s daughter is treated without humanity, compassion, or respect after marriage. Some mothers, simply because they gave birth to sons, begin acting as if they hold power over another woman’s daughter, forgetting that someone else raised that girl with the same love, care, and dreams.

But a daughter is not someone’s burden.
She is someone’s child, someone’s dream, someone’s entire world.

And until society truly understands that, stories of pain and injustice will continue repeating generation after generation.

This growing culture of dowry pressure and emotional abuse has damaged trust in marriage itself.

As a mother; especially as a mother of a son – this reality feels painful and shameful. Because the actions of some families create fear in the hearts of parents raising daughters with love, trust, and dreams for their future.

How will parents trust marriage if stories like these continue repeating?

A daughter is not a transaction.
Marriage is not a business agreement.
And no woman’s life should ever become smaller than money, ego, control, or social image.

To every parent raising daughters – educate them, support them, and help them become financially independent and emotionally strong. That is the greatest protection you can give your child.

And to women silently suffering inside toxic marriages – please remember this:

No relationship is more important than your life.

Even if you do not have a job today, start somewhere. Do any honest work. No hard-earned income is ever small. A simple and peaceful life is far better than living every day in fear, violence, emotional torture, or mental breakdown.

Do not wait for your pain to become irreversible.

If a home is destroying your mental peace, dignity, confidence, or safety, leave before it destroys you completely.

Do not think about society, relatives, family reputation, or “what people will say” when your life itself is standing between survival and collapse.

Choose your safety.
Choose your peace.
Choose your life before it’ too late.

Finally, this article is not written to declare anyone guilty. The truth of any case must be decided legally through proper investigation and the courts. But as a society, we must start asking difficult questions about emotional abuse, dowry harassment, domestic violence, and the treatment of women after marriage.

Because real progress is not measured only through technology, luxury, or modern lifestyles.

A society becomes truly modern only when its women feel safe, respected, valued, and emotionally secure inside their own homes.