It would be reasonable to assume that the shortage of women in northern India might have improved their lot, as an increasing number of men are forced to compete for their hand in marriage.
But instead, the shortage caused by 20 years of aborting female foetuses is prompting men who manage to find a wife to share her with their frustrated brothers.
In Haryana and Punjab, men visit remote, poor rural areas to buy wives whose families cannot afford a dowry.
Tripala Kumari, 18, was brought to Haryana last month from her home hundreds of kilometres away in Bihar by farmer Ajmer Singh.
When she realised that Singh expected her to sleep with his two brothers, Kumari refused and Singh allegedly killed her.
He has been arrested and the Haryana government has set up an inquiry into the practice of fraternal polyandry.
In some villages of Haryana and Punjab, the sex ratio is 500 baby girls for every 1,000 boys.