New Delhi: Delhi recorded the highest number of dowry death cases among 19 metropolitan cities in 2024, continuing a grim trend that kept the national capital at the top of the ignominious list for the fifth consecutive year.According to National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) report, ‘Crime in India 2024’, Delhi reported 109 such incidents involving 111 victims, with a crime rate of 1.4 per lakh population.Though the numbers were the highest among metropolitan cities, the data indicates a gradual decline from a spike witnessed during the Covid period. Delhi recorded 136 incidents and 139 victims in 2021 — the highest in the five-year period — with the crime rate touching 1.8 per lakh population. Since then, the figures have steadily dipped, falling to 129 cases in 2022 and 114 the next year.Under Section 80 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which earlier was Section 304B of Indian Penal Code (IPC), a dowry death is registered when a woman dies under unnatural circumstances within seven years of marriage and it is established that she faced cruelty or harassment linked to dowry demands shortly before her demise.In Jan 2026, a woman SWAT commando of Delhi Police was killed, allegedly by her husband, who repeatedly struck her with a dumbbell following an argument over persistent demands for dowry, bringing renewed attention to the issue.Despite the gradual decline in such cases, Delhi continued to report significantly higher numbers than other metropolitan cities in 2024. Kanpur recorded the second-highest number with 54 incidents and victims, though its crime rate stood much higher at 4 per lakh population. Patna was next with 30 incidents and victims and a rate of 3.1.NCRB data analysed by TOI over the past five years shows that while Delhi’s absolute numbers remain the highest, the city’s rate has fluctuated between 1.4 and 1.8 since 2020. In 2023, it reported 114 incidents involving 114 victims, at a rate of 1.5. Kanpur and Lucknow recorded 45 cases each, while Jaipur reported 38 incidents.In 2022, the capital registered 129 incidents involving 129 victims, at a rate of 1.7. Kanpur and Lucknow had 43 cases each, while Jaipur reported 33.The sharpest rise was seen in 2021 during the pandemic period, when Delhi reported 136 incidents involving 139 victims. Lucknow followed with 51 cases while Jaipur recorded 34. Even in 2020, when the pandemic started, Delhi topped the list with 109 incidents and 111 victims, with a rate of 1.4.The trend has raised concerns over the persistence of dowry-related violence in Delhi despite laws being progressively tightened and repeated awareness campaigns. Investigators and women’s rights activists have often pointed to prolonged domestic abuse, financial pressure from in-laws and continued social acceptance of dowry demands as key factors behind such crimes.
