Two Women, One Hindu & One Muslim, Killed by Dowry: Inside UP's 'Dahej' Epidemic

After their weddings, Priya's in-laws demanded a car and 6 lakh rupees, while Shaizy's in-laws demanded a Flat.

Two young women lost their lives after suffering immense dowry pressure and harassment in Uttar Pradesh.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

(Trigger Warning: This story contains details of suicide. Please proceed with caution and reach out for relevant helpline numbers if assistance is needed).

Inside a maze of lanes in Thakurganj, Lucknow, lives Prakhar Dixit with his family. Prakhar sat on his sofa alone, staring at the photos of his sister, Priya Dixit. He looked at the tattoo on his hand, a portrait of Priya he had recently gotten done.

"Dowry demands took her life, her in-laws ruined her life," he managed to say, as his voice choked.

31-year-old Priya married Shubham Tandon, a school teacher, in December 2024. Five months later, one evening, she locked herself in her room and killed herself because of dowry demands and harassment from her husband and in-laws.

Similar dowry-related deaths make headlines often and fuel outrage all over social media, but what really happens to these women and their families? Are they treated merely as a statistic, lost in sensationalised headlines?

Much like Priya, the burden of dowry gradually poisoned Shaizy Khan's life. After facing years of mental and physical harassment, when she fell sick, Shaizy's body couldn't recover.

Both these cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh, a state which tops the charts when it comes to dowry-related death cases, as per data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

In 2022, 6,450 dowry-deaths were registered. Of these, 2,218 incidents were from UP alone. This means that the state accounts for more than one in every three dowry deaths.

Roughly, 18-20 women die every single day due to harassment from their families over dowry. In this story, we’ll take you through the stories of two women, Priya Dixit and Shaizy Khan who lost their lives over dowry. Their stories represent an alarming, large-scale systemic pattern of dowry deaths.

'Demanded Creta Car & 6 Lakh Rupees'

Priya's family alleged in the FIR, as did Priya in her suicide letter, that her in-laws demanded more money and dowry right after her marriage with Shubham.

Throughout the past five months, Priya was harassed, silenced and beaten up, her family told The Quint.

"They tortured my daughter so much. That is why my daughter lost her life. Otherwise, she wouldn't have done it. She was happy here," said Shakuntala Dixit, Priya's Mother, crying and wiping her tears with her saree.

From Priya and Shubham's wedding in December 2024.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

The FIR stated that, "Around Rs 20 lakh were spent on the wedding, the husband and the in-laws were not happy and wanted more dowry. They told Priya to tell her father that they want a Creta car and the remaining money, Rs 6 lakh, else they can take her back home."

Her father, Dinesh also told The Quint, "They said Shubham travels in a car, so we need to buy him a car and asked for cash as well. Since then, they started harassing her. So much so that they completely broke her."

Before her death, Priya was thrown out of her in-laws' house. A few weeks before her death, a video was recorded wherein Priya was seen crying and pleading in front of their house.

Her brothers, Prakhar and Piyush Dixit recalled how she was not only harassed but also how the difficult marriage and dowry demands had changed her as a person.

Prakhar has got a tattoo of her sister, Priya on his left hand.

(Photo: Mohammad Shahzeb/The Quint)

"Priya's husband and her in-laws even tried to suffocate her with a pillow once. Last year, when they were a newly-wed couple, Shubham tore her clothes over some argument and they beat her too, Priya later told us. All because they wanted to get more out of her and she wanted to keep us away from these problems," Piyush told The Quint.

Piyush Dixit, Priya's Brother to The Quint

A district level boxer, Priya had a whole life ahead of her. Earlier this year, she had gotten through final stages of verification for a government job at child developmental services. But dowry demands and the burden crushed her dreams.

Her brothers expressed disappointment at how educated people living in cities also demand for dowry like this.

"Priya was also educated and she couldn't bear the harassment due to her dignity and self-respect. That how her life before her marriage was good. She was into sports and used to prepare for competitive exams. But after marriage, her life changed. We had also thought that we would educate her and she would live a life that is different from these norms," remarked Prakhar.

Priya's husband and in-laws have been arrested by the Lucknow police and are investigating into the whereabouts of the other relatives mentioned in the FIR.

'Her In-Laws Started Demanding a Flat'

27-years-old Shaizy Khan married Mohammad Sheeban, a teacher at a coaching centre in Aligarh four years ago. She has a two-year-old son too. But in these four years, the demands for dowry gradually increased and took the form of domestic violence and torture.

These dowry demands culminated into a demand for an apartment, which Shaizy's parents could not fulfill.

Her uncle, Mufti Qasim Razi told The Quint, "The man showed a different side to him before the wedding, they all seemed progressive and liberal and did not make a hue and cry about dowry. After marriage, they showed their true colors."

Shaizy's father, Ziauddin, while speaking to the media said, "They kept demanding dowry from her, I did fulfil their smaller demands. But they started asking for something that was beyond my capacity. I have small children and I don't have that kind of income that I could fulfil their dowry demand. They demanded a flat. Because of this, they also beat Shaizy."

From Shaizy and Sheeban's wedding from March 2021.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

The Quint also accessed a call recording of Shaizy, from a few months before her death.

In the recording, Shaizy's voice choked and she cried as she said, "You ruined my life. I was telling you 'don't get me married' but you said that they are good people, Like them? Who talk disrespectfully?"

Her family had taken notice of how disturbed Shaizy was. By that time, she had become depressed. So the she stayed with her family for 6 months.

Ziauddin also claimed, "Her husband and in-laws beat her too. She went through an abortion as well. Her husband did not come, I was the one who took her to the doctor and brought her back."

Years of trauma, assault and harassment took a toll on Shaizy's body. When she suffered a lung infection and cough this year, her parents alleged that her in-laws fed her with lemon juice to worsen her health.

If she had the will to live, she would've picked up or shown signs of recovery. but she had no will to live anymore. This was when she was on a ventilator and was unconscious, the doctors told us.

Ziauddin, Shaizy's father to The Quint

Shaizy passed away on 6 May 2025.

As per Islam, dowry is haram or prohibited. But, by and large, this is on paper. Dowry practice is so deeply entrenched in our society that it cuts across class and communities.

Mufti Qasim Razi, Shaizy's Uncle told The Quint, "We had even directed that wherever dowry is demanded, nikah (wedding ceremony) should not be done. But where do we take the society? A society which on the face of it, agrees with us but behind our backs, they all do the same."

Shaizy's parents have filed a case and now demand that the in-laws' are arrested, as named in the FIR.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

To understand why dowry — outlawed over 60 years ago — continues to be omnipresent and the main hindrance a woman faces to get her voice heard, we spoke to Advocate Malavika Rajkotia, a leading expert in family law.

"One of the main challenges is to get out of the family and have support from her own family. Then sometimes the brutalisation is so extreme that she has actually lost her voice anyway and is working in auto-pilot," she noted.

"The response of even the police stations is some kind of moral righteousness. To say that 'do you realise that you'll be getting him intro trouble, I will make him understand' or 'it's your fault,'" she added.

Talking about the argument of alleged misuse of the Dowry Prohibition Act or section 498A of IPC, Rajkotia observed that an individual case often gets highlighted more in the media, while no one is taking away from the details of the case, the question is whether there is competent use of the law in the first place?

"Law can only do so much, but we can't keep relying on legislation to do the change. Parents invest on a boy's education hugely. And get him a fine job, which earns him a lot. So in many ways, they are treating it as an investment on which they want a return," remarked the Advocate.