On 2 March 2009, the Associated Press reported on a recently released study in which American researchers analyzed data regarding fire-related deaths in India. According to the research, in 2001, fire-related deaths accounted for 2% of all deaths in India and out of those numbers, 65% of the victims were women. It is suspected that many of the fire-related deaths were the result of domestic violence. Fire-related deaths play a large role in India's domestic violence problem. When disputes arise, women are sometimes intentionally set on fire, and their deaths are reported as accidents. Many women's rights activists hold the Indian government responsible for failing to properly investigate this problem, and refusing to take complaints seriously until it is too late. The study found that the actual number of fire-related deaths in 2001 was six times the number reported by police.
For the full text of the study, please click here.
Compiled from: Fires Are Big Killer of Indian Women, The Associated Press (2 March 2009).