17 Jan 2012

New online game targets Indian dowry demands

9:33 pm on 17 January 2012

Anger at the practice of demanding dowries, which can lead to violence against brides in India, has prompted a version of the Angry Birds game called Angry Brides.

Dowries such as jewellery, clothes, cars and money are traditionally given by the bride's family to the groom and his parents to ensure she is taken care of in her new home.

The custom was outlawed more than five decades ago. But it is still widely practised.

According to a 2007 study, there was a dowry-related death every four hours in India.

The worst cases were murders called "stove burnings" where the woman is doused in kerosene by her husband and his family and set on fire.

The homepage of Shaadi.com, a matrimonial website with two million members, shows a red-clad, eight-armed woman resembling a powerful female Hindu goddess.

More than 270,000 people have seen the app since the game was launched last week.

Online marketing head Ram Bhamidi said both men and women seem to be playing it.