Twisha Sharma, Nikki Bhati, Manisha. These are the names of three young women who were killed because they were married into Hindu families. They were Hindu women. I write that they were killed due to marriage because, had they not married, they would very likely still be alive. Their marriage led them to their death. And I must write not simply “women” but “Hindu women” because had they not been married into Hindu households, their chances of survival might have been slightly higher.Even as I write this, I am aware that many readers will accuse me of simplification. Some will say that out of a special hatred or hostility towards Hindus, or as they say, because of my self-hatred, I am placing excessive emphasis on the Hindu identity of these murdered women and their families. But there is a reason for doing so. For the last twelve or thirteen years, the government, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have, in one form or another, been telling the Hindu society that they should be chosen by them as their masters to for the sake of the “safety” of their girls and women.Hindu girls are under threat from Muslims, is what they tell us. Slogans constantly exhort Hindus to save their daughters, sisters and wives from Muslims. Ordinary Hindus have been made to believe this propaganda: if a Hindu girl forms a relationship with or marries a Muslim man, violence against her is almost inevitable. But the statistics tell another story. The greater likelihood is that Hindu women will be killed or continue to suffer violence after marrying Hindu men.Yet, for the media, the murders or deaths of Twisha, Nikki and Manisha are not the kind of stories that would generate excitement or spread hatred against the Muslims. Therefore, they are barely discussed. They compel self-reflection, and self-reflection is painful. Blaming others for one’s plight always gives pleasure; examining oneself is deeply uncomfortable.Twisha, Nikki and Manisha are merely three names among the nearly 6,000 women who are killed every year inside their husbands’ homes because of dowry demands or because they did or did not bear children or a male child or because of some other form of domestic violence. In India, nearly 16 women are killed in this manner every single day. Experts repeatedly caution us that these figures represent only a tiny fraction of domestic violence and dowry-related violence, because most such cases are never reported. The police often refuse to register complaints and instead try to dismiss such incidents as “domestic matters”. Twisha’s brother himself has stated how difficult it was for them to even get an FIR registered.Among these murdered women, around 85% to 88% are killed within Hindu families, while roughly 11% to 12% die in Muslim households. One may argue that this distribution broadly reflects India’s demographic composition. That does not necessarily prove Hindus are more violent than Muslims in this regard. But should that really be a matter of comfort for Hindus?If we look at the state-wise distribution, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar rank at the top in cases of domestic violence and murders of married women. It is worth remembering that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh travels to states like West Bengal and Kerala, promising women of those states the same “security” that women supposedly enjoy in Uttar Pradesh. Yet in Uttar Pradesh, women are not even safe inside their own homes. Hindutvavadi leaders present themselves as protectors of Hindu daughters. But they display no interest whatsoever in protecting “their own” daughters from husbands or in-laws.The sheer number of Hindu women among the murdered makes the Hindu claim hollow that women in Hindu society are far better off than in Muslim communities. India’s official agencies do not usually classify such data according to religion. It would perhaps be more accurate to say that the dowry system was historically far more widespread among Hindus and because of the cultural dominance of Hindu society, this disease gradually spread into other religious communities as well.Studies also indicate that among Hindus, dowry has been the most prevalent within upper-caste groups, from where it spread through imitation into other castes. But it would not be an oversimplification to say that violence against women – and even their murders over dowries and related issues – is often more common in educated and “respectable” families.Until not very long ago, dowry was regarded a social evil. Today, it is barely spoken about. A few years ago, I asked a friend’s daughter how much dowry officers entering the civil and police services get. She told me that it is somewhere close to twenty or twenty-five crore rupees. There are no official statistics and hardly any serious studies on the matter, but everyone knows this is commonplace. One can imagine the attitude of officers towards cases of dowry violence when they themselves have entered marriage with enormous dowries.Even today, weddings involve the public display of jewellery and gifts given by the bride’s family. There is little evidence that society finds it crude. A socialist leader once narrated an incident from an election campaign. During campaigning in Delhi, he was taken to a wedding venue. There, not only was the jewellery brought from the bride’s home put on display, but every ornament was described over a loudspeaker. He later said that he found himself in a strange moral dilemma. He was opposed to dowry, certainly, but he was also there to ask for votes. So he quietly sought votes in the wedding tent and left, unable to tell his hosts that what they were doing was morally and legally wrong.I have known friends who refuse to attend weddings where dowry is exchanged. But such people have now become exceedingly rare. Our tolerance towards dowry has increased. We mostly choose to look away.Even literature, art and cinema rarely find space for women like Twisha Sharma, Nikki Bhati or Manisha. One struggles to recall any major novel, short story or literary work or movie from the last two decades that discussed dowry or the violence arising from it.Will the murders of Twisha, Nikki and Manisha break through this numbness of ours? Will there be any campaign within Hindu society to awaken consciousness against dowry and domestic violence? I am talking particularly about Hindus because this disease spread outwards into other religious and caste communities from upper-caste Hindu society. Yet neither any Hindu “saint” nor any Hindu organisation is likely to express grief for Twisha, Nikki and Manisha. Nor will they launch any movement to ensure that no more Twishas, Nikkis or Manishas are killed.Apoorvanand teaches Hindi at Delhi University.