There are some losses that quietly settle in your chest and refuse to leave. When I first read about Twisha Sharma and Deepika Nagar  two young women, full of dreams, who should have been starting beautiful new chapters something inside me ached with a sorrow.  
 
Some stories stop you in your tracks, and these two young brides from different families, but bound by similar circumstances, have shaken many of us.  

Two daughters. Two weddings that should have marked new beginnings. Two families now waiting for answers and justice. Their stories are not just individual tragedies, they reflect a deeper, uncomfortable truth that still lingers in our society. 

Reading about these cases, I felt a familiarity, the kind that comes when we realise how far we still have to go. I mean, it also makes me wonder if we're all still mentally stuck somewhere? Some place where respect never existed?   
 
Despite laws in place, conversations around women’s safety, and growing awareness, dowry, related harassment and deaths continue to haunt families across India. It hides behind gifts, tradition, and adjustments until it becomes too late. 

What strikes me is how these incidents cut across backgrounds, borders, industries and even families. Education, urban living, or modern appearances haven’t fully erased the old mindset that treats a daughter, in, law as someone who must bring something to prove her worth. This pressure doesn’t just affect the woman, it damages  ethentire families and leaves children without mothers. 

 

The adjust after marriage conundrum 

Twisha, 33, who left a career in modelling and acting to build a new life in Bhopal, and Deepika, 24, who had only begun her journey in Greater Noida, both reportedly reached out for help before their final days.  

Their pleas, now painfully public through chats and calls, remind us how the quiet expectation to endure can become dangerous. The adjust kar lo culture, passed down through generations, often leaves women carrying silent burdens while everyone around them looks away until it’s too late. 

 

Progressive talk vs everyday reality 

We celebrate Women’s Day, share empowering reels, and claim society is changing. Yet dowry crisis India persists because it is deeply woven into ideas of family honour, social status, and gender roles. Parents on both sides sometimes participate silently  one side giving under pressure, the other demanding under entitlement. 

This cycle doesn’t just take lives, it slowly erodes the trust as well as equality that marriages should be built on. Particularly young people in their twenties and thirties are caught between wanting modern partnerships and dealing with these age-old expectations.  

These tragedies should push us to have braver conversations at home before the wedding cards are printed. We need to normalise asking tough questions during matchmaking: Are both sides entering this as equals?  

Will the woman’s dreams and well-being be protected? Real change will come when we raise sons who reject dowry as firmly as we teach daughters to value themselves, and when communities celebrate marriages rooted in mutual respect rather than material exchange. 

 

The Irony: 

 
We write social media posts, long alert posts on LinkedIn and much more. These spaces are only growing but has the problem been solved for?  
 
We need to ask harder questions. Why does the expectation of dowry still survive in so many communities? How can we raise sons who reject it completely? How do we support young women to speak up early, without fear of being labelled difficult? How do parents on both sides challenge these norms instead of silently participating? 

These tragedies should not make us hopeless, but hey should make us determined. Real change begins in everyday conversations, in families discussing equality before marriage, in friends calling out casual dowry jokes, and in communities celebrating marriages based on respect rather than demands. 

At iDare, we believe every woman deserves to enter marriage feeling safe, valued, respected with dignity and loved for who she is, not for what she brings. Let’s honour Twisha and Deepika’s memory not just with outrage, but with consistent action that protects future generations. 
 Image Credits: Pexels