Every day sees so many deaths of women happen because of the dowry. It is high time that the existing law on dowry death needs to be amended. According to Section 304-B, a death can be categorized as a ‘dowry death’ and a woman’s husband and in-laws deemed to have caused her death only if certain conditions are met.
1. If the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs unnaturally.
2. If the death occurs within seven years of her marriage.
3. The woman is subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or in-laws just before her death.
4. Cruelty or harassment has been for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry.

The section further states that the offence is a non-bail able one and that the guilty would get not less than seven years of rigorous imprisonment, which could be extended to life imprisonment or death penalty, depending on the nature of the case.
Dowry death is worse than murder but surprisingly there is no death penalty for it whereas death penalty can be given for murder. Death sen¬tences should also be permitted in cases of dowry deaths. The National Commission for Women (NCW), too, backed this demand. Following this, in 2003, the Law Commission of India was assigned the task of drafting a recommendation to initiate an amendment. The commission concluded that Section 304-B of the IPC didn’t need to be amended. However, it raised the tenure of punishment from seven to 10-years of rigorous imprisonment. This judgment has left the legal fraternity divided and sparked off a debate.

Section 304-B was created to deal with cases where a bride met an unnatural death within seven years of marriage. It's an exhaustive section taking all details into account and offers apt punishment, with proper consideration being given to the facts available. However, if a case of dowry death falls in the ambit of murder, the death penalty is legally permissible, as per the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.  Section 304-B of the IPC is a comprehensive law and many would say that it need not be amended. But many prosecutors would have definitely liked it had the punishment been extended to life imprisonment. If the death penalty or life imprisonment is the punishment for murder cases, why not the same for a dowry death? How can a person get away with only 10-years of punishment for a dowry death?

But some people differ in their opinion. ‘Section 304-B is a dangerous law, because one doesn’t need to prove one’s crime. It’s presumed that the accused is guilty. So if an innocent is framed, any extension of imprisonment would mean more injustice. One needs to remember that these crimes are generally committed in the privacy of residen¬tial homes. Only stringent implementation of the existing laws can restrain people from committing such crimes. There are parents who seek financial compensation to withdraw a case, but for the sake of those seeking justice punishment needs to be increased to a life sentence. The guilty need to be punished in such a way that others learn a lesson and are forced to think a thousand times before killing young, innocent married women.