Section 498-A is a cognizable offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and was brought into the IPC in the year 1983 to curb the menace of cruelty to married women for want of dowry, which often led to their deaths. It makes it a crime to be cruel to your wife or to your relative's wife. The law explains that "cruelty" means anything that is done on purpose, and either causes serious harm to the woman or makes the woman want to kill herself. It also strengthens the laws against dowry or payment made by the bride's family to the husband's family. It makes it a crime to harass a woman to try to make her family pay a dowry.