Outrage has ensued after a 25-year-old woman in India was locked in a toilet for three years by her husband and in-laws as they tried to force her family to pay more dowry.

Kumar Eiklaiy, Senior Superintendent of Police, in Darbhanga, Bihar, said he was alerted after Gunja Devi’s parents said they hadn’t been allowed to see their daughter.

Eiklaiy said, “She was found in a toilet in desperate condition, with poor hygiene and torn clothes. She was fed leftovers and there was no light in the small space. The woman told us she was harassed for not bringing dowry and after the birth of her daughter, things became worse.

“They started beating her and confined her in the toilet. She wasn't allowed to meet anyone and there was no way she could communicate to the outer world.”

Whilst dowry payments are illegal in India, the practice remains rife, even if it is more covert.

Shocking statistics find that one woman dies every hour in India in dowry related incidences.

This feudal practice, however, remains far from outdated in the UK.

Many British Asian families still face this burden today, with wedding gifts to one’s daughter turning into a burdensome transaction. In many cases it leads to cumbersome debt for the bride’s family.

Hamida, a British Asian woman who did not wish to be identified has spoken to Asian Image about her ordeal after her marriage.

“The issue with the dowry is what ultimately led to my divorce.

“My in-laws did not make huge demands in the beginning.

“My parents stuck to all the traditions, jewellery for all the female relatives, gifts for all the male relatives.

“But on the morning of the nikah, my parents received a phone call from my in-laws stating that if my parents didn’t arrive with £5000 in cash, they would call off the marriage.

“My parents were shocked. But with the wedding on the same day and the fact that all our guests had flown over from Pakistan and Canada, there was no way they could see the wedding cancelled.

“So my parents conceded.

“Which only served to fuel even more greed by my in-laws.”

Many lawyers and women’s rights groups in the UK are campaigning for an anti-dowry law to be enforced in the UK saying the practice leaves women vulnerable to domestic violence and susceptible to abuse.

Hamida, however, is sceptical about such legislation.

“How can an anti-dowry law be enforced or policed for that matter?

“Straight after the wedding, my in-laws told me that the cost of the wedding had been extortionate for them, and they felt it was haram for them to get a loan to cover the costs.

“They then told me to hand over my gold sets to them, the jewellery that my parents had given me. They said they would sell that to raise some money.

“When I refused, my husband hit me continuously, at the order of his parents.

“I felt like I had no choice.

“It wasn’t just my jewellery.

“I was coerced into telling my parents that they had to gift my husband with a car on his birthday.

“I was told that if I my husband didn’t receive the car, they would never let me speak to my parents again.

“Every time I spoke to my parents on the phone, they would stand next to me to make sure I said exactly what was expected of me.

“My emotional and physical abuse continued for months.

“And the demands became increasingly ridiculous. They wanted my family to replace things like their washing machine and dishwasher “I was lucky, I was able to leave my husband and his family. But I have a strong family behind me.

“Many women will tolerate this type of injustice because they don’t want to bring shame to their family.

“They still feel there is no dignity when a woman leaves her married home.”