The wedding ritual that kills 2000 brides in Pakistan every year

LAHORE - Every year in Pakistan, more than two thousand women are murdered over dowry disputes.

Dowry deaths are prevalent throughout the country, but seem to be more concentrated in certain areas.

Shumail, a young girl of an impoverished father was tortured and assaulted by her husband after her father failed to meet the dowry demands set by her husband.

Madeeha, another victim of dowry dispute met even a gruesome fate - She was burnt to death by her in-laws for not bringing a motorbike for her husband after marriage.

Aneeba was poisoned by her husband after it became clear to him that she couldn't meet the dowry demands.

These are all real incidents that reflect the gravity of the cancerous ritual called dowry which claims the lives of more than two thousand women every year in Pakistan. It is presumed that the actual death toll is much higher than that, since many cases are believed to go unreported.