Under Section 80 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Dowry death), read with the principles governing…

Under Section 80(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 304B IPC), where the death of a woman is caused by any burns 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 for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death is called "dowry death." Under Section 80(2), it is punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life. As explained in Sher Singh @ Partapa v. State of Haryana, "soon before her death" denotes a live and proximate link between the dowry-related cruelty and the death, not a rigid mathematical time limit.