ANURADHA NAGARAJ INDIA’S Kerala state has launched a crackdown on the payment of dowry after the deaths of four young married women highlighted domestic abuse linked to the custom, which remains common despite being banned 60 years ago. Traditionally gold jewellery that parents hand over when their daughters wed, nowadays dowries can include a range of costly "gifts" for the groom's family - straining the finances of families with daughters and often causing rows and abuse. "In light of the recent horrifying incidents of domestic abuse, Kerala has decided to take more stringent measures to create a fair society," the…