"I had 62 phone call inquiries in the 10 days after that incident," she said.



"On a regular week, I'll get about five calls from women needing assistance and dowry will be a factor in about 70% of those cases."

In the last year, the agency had assisted 120 women who had "complex problems involving migration and dowry", she said.

"Five of them have received their residency, six have had to return to India or were duped by their husbands to take a trip and then their visa sponsorship was withdrawn so they couldn't return.

"Most are in some process of trying to stay in Australia via domestic violence provisions in the law."

Dowry is not just an exchange of gifts.



It is a fundamental part of marriage agreements that can be cash, assets or visas and demands for further dowry can continue for years after the marriage, Randhawa said. It is illegal in India.

"When we talk about dowry abuse we're not talking about some Bollywood movie situation where the mother-in-law beats the daughter within an inch of her life unless the father pays up," she said.

"For some young girls who come from poor families, who cannot fund any further education, marriage is considered the only option.

"A chance to escape the poverty trap by marrying a man overseas is a tempting opportunity for the family.



"People are subtly making a lot of money through marriage in this country."