An Indian woman shocked the residents of her home town by stripping to her underwear in public and parading half-naked through the street. The stunt, which was intended to provoke shock reactions in Rajkot, a conservative city in Western India, was a desperate attempt to stage a protest over alleged abuses perpetrated by her husband's family for not providing her own dowry. Her in-laws were questioned by the police and have been released on bail.Women's groups say her case highlights the plight of women who continue to face abuse at the hands of males. There are reports that the 22-year-old tried to set herself on fire a few days ago demanding the police take immediate action against her husband and in-laws, who she alleged had been physically torturing her for a dowry.
Although paying and accepting a dowry has been illegal in India for more than 40 years, it still goes on. Official estimates show that every year almost 7,000 women are killed-- and countless other assaulted and/or abused-- by their spouses and in-laws because of inadequate dowry payments.
See the BBC story for more details.
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