It has also fueled speculation that rising rates of interpersonal violence have resulted in changing ideas about marriage.

Delhi has seen a number of spousal homicides this August, with one of the most bizarre ones occurring recently.

A 53-year-old allegedly strangled his 50-year-old wife and buried her body after watching the crime film Staircase.

Another case which occurred recently involved a 45-year-old woman, who drugged her 55-year-old husband with sleeping pills before beating and electrocuting him in his presence, alongside her boyfriend. A 40-year-old allegedly throttled his wife to death in a similar case in Rohini.

The incidents come as Delhi has seen a total of six cases of spousal homicide this July, 2026, as compared to three in both July 2025 and July 2024.

While one of the victims last year was a man and the rest were women, this year, out of the six, one was a man, with the rest being women, with the causes varying between illicit affairs and family disputes.

Similarly, in 2025, all three victims were men, with the reasons varying between family disputes, an extra-marital affair, and an illicit relationship.

In 2024, there were three female victims, with two of them being caused due to family disputes and one due to dowry.

A clinical psychologist, asked about spousal killings, opined that unless one of the partners is possessive, it does not occur out of thin air. Increased jealousy, monitoring, isolation, limiting finances, and viewing the partner as their own personal property leads to a point where the abuser feels entitled to the victim's body.

She further notes that non-fatal strangulation is potentially one of the most damaging warning signs of an impending spousal homicide.

"When it comes to imminent spousal homicide, separation or filing for divorce is the most dangerous time for the relationship as well as the potential victim. Financial instability, infidelity, and disputes over children are some of the crucial catalysts of spousal homicide as they pose as direct threats to an abuser's sense of control," Dr. Deepmala Chauhan, a psycologist said.

Further, commenting on how authorities usually approach such cases, the psychologist noted that the issue has been wrongly approached as a series of standalone incidents rather than a pattern of coercive control.

Police, judiciary, and mental health professionals need to collaborate more effectively in order to establish long-term patterns of abuse. "The man of a couple has to stand up for his woman to stop dowry. It is their duty. A family has given her to him, so why would they want more?" said a 63-year-old married woman. "It is also illegal. Even till today, people see it as normal but it is not," she added.

"A woman and a man come together into one house and share everything that they have when they decide to get married. For as long as her man lives, his wife is his family. She holds the same amount of authority over the joint property, as he does," said a 73-year-old married man.