PREPARED BY- GREEN GROUP

MEMBERS- NIDHI PANDEY

PRABHAT SHUKLA
PRATEEK SAXENA
PANKAJ
NARENDRA

WHAT IS HONOUR KILLING?

Honour Killing also known as customary killing is the murder of a family or clan

member by one or more family members where the murderers, essentially the
community at wider scope thinks that the victim through his/her actions has brought
disgrace to the family honour. It is a crime which originates from the culture or race or
one might even call it a cultural tradition.1 In the societies like India, a mans
perception of honour relates to his possession and control of
some desirable commodities and these honours are zan, zar, zameen i.e. women, gold
and land.Ghairat, the honour is closely related to what is perceived as izaat, the respect
or standing in society, or in simpler words, is what people will think of you. This honour
is more dependent upon public perception rather than your actual ways or behavior in
society. The non-Caucasian societies, which consider their women as the vessel of
family honour,2 find it offensive to ones honour if one is a subject of a scandal or
gossip within the community. The parda system prevalent in these countries supports
the fact of women being the honour bearers.3 Thus, ultimately, it is what the men and
older women in family who with their power within the family,decide what acts of a
women are honourable or dishonourable.

Conceptualizing Honour Killing:

Honour Crimes are provoked by the numerous deviated behavioral
actions of women ranging from defying the proposed dress code,
meeting men not related to her, defying father or brother,to being
involved in pre-marital or extra-marital sexual activity whether
consensual or nonconsensual.Hence even rape victims are perceived
as have brought disgrace to the family honour. The truth being
irrelevant, a mere suspicion is enough to bring family honour down.
There is a case reported where a woman in Saudi Arabia was killed
by her father for chatting on the social networking site Facebook .
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch too
have defined honour killing on similar lines.

HONOUR KILLING IN INDIA :

India, even in 21st century, continues to be influenced by the
religious and cultural ways of the society. The cultural values are
very integral to the Indian society. And the younger generation who
challenges the centuries old established norms continues to face
the social stigma and take the wrath of society in form of social
boycotts and in some cases, honour killing. Talking in Indian context,
most of the honour crimes take place as a result of inter-caste or
inter-religious marriages. The caste system has deep roots in Indian
society and any inter-caste, inter-religion or cross-culture marriages,
especially after frequent interferences from the Khap Panchayats,
are not a welcoming thought. At the same time, honour killings are
negligible to almost non-existent in southern India owing to the
efforts of the influence and activism of reformists like Swami
Vivekananda,Ramakrishna Paramhansa, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Honour killings derive strong sanctions from the society. Though

every religion condemns honour killings yet the cultural set up
portray such practices as integral part of religion. Thus, honour
killings have one of the strongest supports of masses i.e. through
religion. The criminal law promises to take care of honour crimes
under Sec 299-304 and under Sec 120 A and B of IPC.Taking Law as
an instrument of change, both the state machinery and judiciary has
always tried to curb the evil practice of honour crime. The Judiciary
has condemned honour killing as a practice which contributes to
rigidification of the caste system. And has infact, encouraged the inter
caste marriages which might help in unification of the society
surpassing all barriers as in the case of Lata Singh v. State of U.P. &
Anr. The Courts have also been giving exemplary punishments to
create a deterrent effect on the minds of so called honour preservers.
In Manoj and Babli murder case (2007), the Sessions Court in Karnal
on 30th March, 2010, holding the Khap panchayat members liable for
murder of same gotra couple, gave capital punishment to five and life
imprisonment to one and seven year jail term to another

Is it Society vs. Law?

The honour killing is more of a cultural practice. Societal back up to
this practice is to the extent that if a family stands for the
matrimonial choices made by their kin, then it must face the wrath
of the whole community. Such families are boycotted and looked
down upon by all the other people in society. In this situation the
family members often find themselves in better position if
they get rid of such black sheep by alienation and in the extreme
cases, they are murdered to restore the lost honour of the family. The
immediate cause is the attitude of the youth which tends to be more
liberal and affected by western thoughts. Marrying someone against
the will of parents is something contrary to essential nature of Indian
society. Thus, when these morals are violated and are mocked at
society is bound to react.

AMENDMENTS MADE BY GOVERNMENT OF

INDIA:
The Government of India after taking note of rise in number of honour killings in these recent
years has proposed to come up with some amendments in IPC so as to prepare a deterrent law
to deal with honour killings..The amendments proposed do not merely relate to the
amendments of IPC (Sec 300 and Sec 354) but amendments under Evidence Act, 1872 (Sec 105)
and Special Marriages Act, 1954 are also being considered to give effectual implementation to
these new laws.
Firstly, the Government has proposed addition of a fifth clause to Sec 300 under IPC. The
proposed fifth clause says,
if it is done by any person or persons acting in concert with, or at the behest of, a member of
the family or a member of a body or group of the caste or clan or community or caste panchayat
(by whatever name called) in the belief that the victim has brought dishonour or perceived to
have brought dishonour upon the family or caste or clan or community or caste panchayats. In
the explanations given for the clause, the proposal says that dishonour and perceived to have
brought dishonour will include acts of any person adopting a dress code which is
unacceptable to his or her family or caste or clan or community or caste panchayat.
Secondly, the Government proposes to make amendments in Indian Evidence Act (Sec 105)
which will bring the onus on Khap Panchayats to prove their innocence in the cases related to
honour crimes. And the Khap Panchayat or any group which orders for slaying or any other harm
to anyone and the person who actually committed the offence will be made jointly liable for the
crime.

Cases related to honour killing :