India, Sept. 29 -- Dowry demands not only strip women of their dignity but, in many cases, also claim their lives, the Delhi High Court observed while rejecting anticipatory bail pleas of a father-in-law and brother-in-law in a dowry death case.

A bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in her ruling delivered on Friday, remarked that incidents like these serve as grim reminders that the battle against deep-rooted social evils such as dowry and domestic violence is far from over, even in the present times.

"It is profoundly unfortunate that, even in present times, many women continue to suffer cruelty within their matrimonial homes, inter alia, for demand of dowry. Such cruelty not only robs women of their dignity but, in many tragic case...