498a
Section 498-A is an offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It was brought into the IPC in 1983 to stop cruelty to married women because of dowry. This often led to their deaths. It makes it a crime to be cruel to your wife or to your relative's wife. The law explains that "cruelty" means anything that is done on purpose, and either causes harm to the woman or makes the woman want to kill herself. It also makes the laws against dowry or payment made by the bride's family to the husband's family stronger. It makes it a crime to harass a woman to try to make her family pay a dowry.