Bihar ranks second in the country after Uttar Pradesh in dowry death cases, according to a data compiled by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB).

A total of 987 women were killed for dowry, where as 4,852 incidents of harassment for dowry were reported in Bihar in 2016.

The report hints that a married woman is killed allegedly for dowry in Bihar in every eight hours. Similarly, a woman is harassed for dowry by her in-laws in every one-and-a-half-hours.

The disconcerting trend has ostensibly drawn chief minister Nitish Kumar's attention towards the prevalent social evil after he enforced total prohibition in the state last year. His recent appeal to people not to attend marriages in which dowry has been taken by the groom's family is relevant in this backdrop.

Surprisingly, the number of eve-teasing cases stood at 342 only. An officer posted at the state police headquarters said most of the victims were new brides, who failed to fetch dowry for their husbands and in-laws.

"The greed for dowry has gained alarming proportions in recent years in Bihar," he told The Telegraph.

"Since the incidents concern women, the chief minister advocated for eradicating the dowry system. His (Nitish's) tirade against liquor consumption won accolades from the women and is paying rich dividends," the police officer, who is assigned to check the incidents of crime against women at the police headquarters, confided.

While addressing a function to commemorate the 126th birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar on April 14, Nitish had said: "One should not go on the path of dowry. Educated people should not become victim of dowry. I appeal to people that they should boycott attending weddings if they come to know that the groom's side has taken dowry. This will have great impact on the society."

A former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Study, S. Narayan, said Nitish has taken another bold step towards empowerment of women by raising the issue of dowry, "a system that has been eating into the vitals of society for ages".

"Since he is a politician his every initiative has political anecdotes. But the move aimed at removing the ills plaguing the society should be appreciated," he added.

He said love marriages to an extent would work as deterrent to the growing trend.

"Dowry is one form of historical injustice done to women in the name of degrading customary practices. It runs across class, caste and religion. It is almost like a contagious disease inflicted upon married women by the society. Law and intervention strategies have failed and this is why it has spread so fast. The higher socio-economic strata and the educated informed class are equally involved," he said.

A Muzaffarpur-based social activist Pramod Kumar also supported Narayan's views.

Pramod said socialist leaders of yesteryears such as Karpoori Thakur spoke of the state's concerns over social evils.

"But present day politicians have little concern for such issues. In this context, Nitish is an exception," he said.

Nitish's appeal has become a talking point among women, especially among those who have been fighting for the cause of rural uplift.

"More than 70 per cent of dowry deaths occur in rural areas where women are the worst sufferers. But what is noticeable is that incidents of harassment for dowry have been reported more in urban areas compared to rural parts of the state," said Neelima, a women activist in Patna.

Defining dowry death in legal terms, a Patna High Court lawyer Rajiv Ranjan Kumar Pandey, said: "Where the death of a woman is caused by any burn or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called dowry death."

He said the state police have set up a women cell at the police headquarters and women police stations across the state to deal with the cases of dowry death or harassment.

"But what is pertinent is that these cells or police stations should properly deal with the complaints," he said.