evidence: Dowry deaths are a deep-rooted form of violence against women in India. Here we focus on Uttar Pradesh, which is the most populous state in India, in the north of the country. It borders Nepal and Uttarakhand to the north, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the south, Bihar and Jharkhand to the east and Haryana, Delhi and the National Capital Region, and Rajasthan to the west. Nowadays, Uttar Pradesh is divided into 75 districts, but at the beginning of the study period there were 70 districts. We maintain the original 70 districts because data are not available for the current 75 districts during the years of the study. Fig. 1 displays a map of India with Uttar Pradesh shaded (in the top right-hand corner) and a map of Uttar Pradesh with the 70 districts (the main central map). The corresponding names of the districts can be found in Table 1. [...] Violence against women: an urgent public health priority . [...] Crime against the women in India .