Bangalore, July 27 - Radha P. was forced to leave her husband's place in Chennai after her parents failed to fulfil the never ending dowry demands of her in-laws. She has been staying with her three-year-old daughter for the last three years.

'I found myself a teacher's job and now earn for myself and my daughter. I left my husband's place after repeated beatings and torture by my in-laws as they wanted dowry from my parents,' Radha, 31, who lives in Chennai, told IANS here with a tinge of sadness.

Stories like that of Radha (name changed) and 24 other women from different parts of the country will come to light Tuesday at a unique 'court' here to deal with violence and torture related to dowry. They have all come to Bangalore for the event.

Vimochana, the Asian Women's Right Council (AWRC) and 40 other women's organisations have come together to hold the India Court of Women on Dowry Tuesday called 'Daughters of Fire'.

The event will be inaugurated by V.R. Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court judge, at Christ University Bangalore. Corrine Kumar, regional coordinator of AWRC, said the court looks at alternative systems of justice where the focus is not on 'retributive justice'. However, it does not have any legal authority.

The common thread that runs through the lives of the 25 women is pain, resistance and survival.

'Through testimonies of pain and resistance narrated by the women themselves, the court creates a platform for women to speak out where they are not reduced to a mere statistic,' Kumar told IANS.

'The court is an attempt to bring the phenomenon of dowry violence that has been made invisible, normal and routine back to the centre of public consciousness and conscience,' added Kumar.

An expert committee, consisting of activists, academics and artists, will listen to the personal testimonies of the dowry victims and respond to individual cases separately.