What Is Honour Killing
Honour Killing is the term given to the killing of men or women in the name of honour. The word ‘honour killing’ was introduced by a Dutch scholar Ane Nauta, in 1978, to distinguish such killings from other killings in the family and society. It includes crimes such as homicide, murder and assault. In such crimes, the perpetrator is within the family or a group belonging to a particular clan/lineage in a community.
Such crimes are commenced to instil a sense of fear within the people of the society and to ensure they adhere to the patriarchal norms. The victims of honour killing are mostly females and the perpetrators are mostly males. The sanctions for such acts of violence against the females of the community are given since the females are believed to bring dishonour to the community.
The primary reason behind all crimes committed under the umbrella of honour is the conventional, narrow-minded and rigid thought process of several communities. It had all started from the core patriarchal systems in societies – men formulated the traditional practices and men took it upon themselves to ensure that future generations adhere to their traditions. It can be seen that the intolerance of the Indian upper caste to the inter-caste matrimonial/pre-marital partnership of women is the main cause of honour killings.
But presently, it is witnessed that a significant number of women support their husbands/fathers or respective elders in sanctioning the killings of those disobeying the traditional norms or disturbing the morality of the community.
The disturbance can be caused by a range of reasons:
from inappropriate dressing sense to engaging in sexual acts with the same gender. Factors such as, challenging the rigidity of the elders; scenarios such as wearing western clothes, mocking/insulting the culture of the community, smoking/drinking, getting along with males of different communities or villages, are all acts that challenge the rigidity of highly conventional and orthodox elders.
They consider all such acts as shameful and a disgrace to the community – the result of which is an intense punishment to the one bringing such shame. It triggers the sentiments of the community to the extent of putting the life of the disturbing person in danger.
Causes Behind Honour Killing
Reasons for the term brought dishonour can be multiple such as:
Refusing for an arranged marriage:
in India, many communities believe in ‘arranging’ the marriage for their children. Especially in the case of females, all the elders of the family prefer and are usually strict regarding selecting the girl’s husband. Hence the family does not accept and tolerate the girl rejecting such marriage proposals.
Being a victim of sexual assault or even rape – any female who becomes a victim of such heinous offences is considered to bring shame to the family and is therefore sanctioned to be killed to get rid of the societal shame.
Divorce:
even from an abusive/torturous husband – a woman is considered to be of service to her husband in such communities because of the patriarchal setup and hence she cannot seek or even mention the idea of ending her marriage.
Adultery:
A woman, who is not even allowed to question the legitimacy of her marriage is never pardoned for engaging in any form of adultery.
The woman is never allowed to raise her voice, question or challenge the values and beliefs of the society and is only expected to follow them. In cases where she refuses to follow the tradition, she is hated, abused and eventually killed. The killings are sanctioned by elders to protect the honour of the community as the woman is considered to bring dishonour. The women are victimized by their own family which leads to psychological trauma since it’s not some friend or acquaintance but her family members.
Origin Of Honour Crimes
Honour killings are not a new phenomenon. The origins of Honour Killing can be traced back to millennia. In historical records, we find such cases occurring in 1200 BC in the Hammurabi tribes and 6000 BC in the Assyrian tribes. In ancient times, women’s chastity was considered as the honour of the community.
In India, from a historical time, the varna system has contributed to the development of distinct groups. Class division and standards have always been dominated by men. This has led to men still leading, instructing and influencing women and children in their respective families.
Casteism is entrenched in Indian communities and is a major cause of honour killing. Marriage in a lower caste is strictly prohibited for two main reasons; first, status – caste reflects the status of the family in society, and status would decline if there were some kind of association with a lower caste. Second, the lineage – union between the lower and upper castes will break the family lineage. No member of the upper caste wants a future generation who does not belong to the same family and ultimately devalues the legacy.
Trend Of Honour Killing In India
Honour killings are primarily found in highly patriarchal cultures. Most honour-based crimes are heinous in nature to create fear in the community regarding the consequences of tarnishing the community’s honour.
According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s crime report of 2018 and 2019, there were 53 murders with motive recorded as honour killing and most of which are reported as a suicide. The 2019 Crime Statistics Report by NCRB records honour killings in the following states: Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.1
There have been several cases that have led to legal advances resulting in a changed legal perspective towards honour-based crime.
In the classic case of Manoj and Babli from the hinterlands of Haryana, the two were brutally murdered by Babli’s family in Jun’07. It was ordered by the khap panchayat since they were marrying in the same gotra. In Mar’10, a Karnal district court judge stated that:
This court has gone through sleepless nights and tried to put itself in the shoes of the offender. The Khap panchayat has functioned contrary to the constitution, ridiculed it and have become a law unto themselves.2
This particular case highlighted the sphere of honour killings in India and the dominance of khap panchayats in personal matters, especially those relating to the conduct of women in society.
Legal Safeguards
Several lawyers, social workers and politicians have highly recommended amending honour killing as a separate crime. The Constitution of India guarantees every person certain fundamental right such as Article 14,15,17,19 and 21 and honour-related killings are a violation of these rights.
Honour killings are hideously contrary to this very fundamental right, they are predominantly targeted at women and thus give rise to gender inequality and discrimination. Khap panchayats violate the individual fundamental right to life, as they kill or provoke murder, in the name of dignity. Every individual has the right to live. The death penalty is possible only if it is provided by statute.Honour killing cases in current substantive legal provision come under the offence affecting the human body of IPC, 1860.
Presently perpetrators are prosecuted under:
- Section 299 – Penalizes Culpable homicide
- Section 300 &302 – Penalizes Murder and punishment to murder
- Section 307 – Penalizes Attempt to murder
- Section 364 – Penalizes Kidnapping and abducting to murder
The Justice P.V Reddy commission in 2010 proposed the bill under the title of “Prohibition of interference with the freedom of matrimonial alliance to curb the social evil of the caste councils/khap panchayats interference with life and liberty of persons wanting to marry partners belonging to same gotra or different caste/ religion. It proposed to check the gathering of such panchayats to condemn the marriages and further take action of harassing and harming them. The bill was laid down to punish any citizen who takes part in an unlawful assembly to socially boycott or cause bodily harm to a man or woman who is married or wants to marry. Unfortunately, the bill was never passed in the parliament.
Conclusion
In Lata Singh v/s State of UP, the Supreme Court held tha:
There is no honour in honour killing. The feudal minds committing and justifying such gruesome acts are directly violating the human rights of the females of their family/community. The right to live is a fundamental right of any citizen and a female befriending any male of a different caste or status should not be controlled to the extent of limiting her life.
The barbaric murders and gruesome killings are a result of rigid conventional thoughts and practices which can be controlled through an amalgamation of different concepts such as stricter punishments to instil a fear of crime, moral education to uplift the social status of such communities, and the most important, females need to be educated about their rights. Uplifting the society cannot be achieved in isolation and ignoring the females can certainly not assist with any form of prosperity.
Eradication of honour killings requires substantial interference in the status quo. Gender equity has not yet been reached and abuse persists in the name of honour. It is also the responsibility of the state and community to protect the human rights of its people and prevent honour killings. Such social evils cannot be prevented by legislation alone; rather, almost all social, fiscal, political and cultural components would have to be sensitized against this crime. There is no denying that the law could only be one of the most essential instruments for fighting these barbaric crimes.
