Although the payment of a dowry has been illegal in India since 1961, the practice remains common. Among all female victims of recorded homicides, 1,267 (about 15 per cent) were recorded as dowry-related killings. In 2009, the police recorded 8,383 dowry deaths of women and girls, so the total number of homicides linked to dowries in 2009 was 9,650,b which is 56 per cent of all female victims of violent killings including dowry deaths (17,101).