Violence against women in the Asian Indian community in the United States, specifically lethal violence, is a neglected topic. Following a brief profile of Asian Indians in the United States, we note the continued importance of several religio-cultural norms surrounding marriage, family, and gender relations in this group. We discuss the practices of sati and dowry burnings as a backdrop to two case studies of wife burning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We use an integrated model of lethal violence to analyze these cases and describe some persistent cultural cues that affect the production and direction of lethality. We conclude with a discussion of the utility of the integrated model in understanding lethal violence against women and possible generational differences in these patterns.
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