Abstract
Honour killing means
killing a family or clan member in the name of family pride or protecting once
family’s honour.
Such killings are sadly
on the rise across the world as more and more couples marry outside their caste
(as in the case of India) or against their families wises or having extra
marital or pre-marital relationships. Hundreds, is not thousands of women are murdered
by their families each year in the name of family ‘honour’. Honourable Supreme
Court also view honour killing as “rarest of the rare case”.
In this paper, I
suggested the legislature to amend the related statues in order to prohibit
such heinous crime and judiciary must take positive steps with regard to such
cases. No logic, not a single argument can stand for this hateful offence. It
is nothing but an atrocious joke with the young generation.
Honour killing is
considered to be a crime that threatens the unity and harmony of the community
and Now,it is time to stamp out these barbaric & feudal practices which are
a slur on humanity.
INTRODUCTION
“And much it pains my
heart to think, what man has made of man.”
You will definitely
relate to William Wordsworth after listening the horrible incidents I’m
describing here: -
Case 1. Birbhumi District
West Bengal
A 17 years old Adivasi
girl for the “crime” of having relationship with a boy of another community was
stripped necked and made to walk for 89 km. to the accompaniment of beating
drums and made MMS recording which were done circulated on the internet.
Case 2. New Delhi
Nirupama Pathak, based
journalist and Brahmin by cast wanted to marry her colleague of lower cast was
held captive by her mother Sudha Pathak and later murdered through
asphyxiation.
Case 3. Berlin
6 Muslim women were
murdered by family members for different reason like not staying with 1 husband
for living with open mindedness and independence and for marrying against
family’s wishes etc.
Case 4. Cumbria
The decomposed baby of
Shasilee Ahwed was found on the bank of Kent River. She was doing her A-level
and wanted to be a lawyer. She was missing after complaining that her parents
were trying to force into an arranged marriage.
These are only few
examples of the dreadful face of society. In which one thing is common that all
the victims are of young age and all the killers are there ‘so called close
ones’ may be there parent, husbandand brother on villages.
This is not the result of
any domestic violence or personal vexation, but this is killing for honour so
called i.e. honour killing. It is gradually becoming a major concern with its
cases rising each day in many countries where the world honoured seems to be
losing its actual meaning.
DEFINITION
Honour killing mean
killing a family or clan member in the name of family pride on protecting one’s
family honour.
Honour killing is defined
as a death that is avoided to the women of the family for marrying against the
parents’ wishes, having extra-marital and pre-marital relationship, marrying within
the same “gotra” or outside’s one’s cast or marrying a cousin from a different
cast.
So, honour killing are
murders by families on family members of both males and females who were
believed to have brought not only shame on the family name but also for
society. No doubt in India it increasing day by day particularly in those areas
where education has also changed the environment.
Current Figure
We can easily consider
the terribleness of honour killing by these figures:-
1. According
to United Nations population fund 5000 women and girls were murders by family
member each year.
2. In the
“Asian Age” India has reported over1000 cases of honour killing every year in
which 900 incidents are reported from Haryana, Punjab and U.P.
3. According
to data compiled by the Punjab police. Total 34 honour killing reported in the
state between 2008 to 2010.
4. The
study commissioned by national commission for women 326 cases documented over
the past one year involved couples that entered into inter cast marriage.
5. In
Pakistan these figures are so terrible. According to human rights commission in
the name of Karo-Kari (local name of honour killing) No. of victim is
1999
|
1000 women
|
2000
|
245 women, 137 men
|
2008
|
574
|
2009
|
647
|
REASONS
According to Marsha
Freemen, director of International Women’s Rights action watch at the Humphrey
institute of public affairs at the university of Minnesoca “most honour killing
occur in the countries where the concept of women as a vessel of the family
reputation pre-dominates marriage against FAMILIES WISHES is
one aspect of honour killing.
There can be different
motives behind such a ghastly act, some of which are:-
1. Marrying Against
Social Structure
Examples:-
a) Marrying
outside own caste or inter-caste marriage.
b)Marrying
within own clan or inter-gotra marriage.
c) Inter-Religious
marriage.
2. Courtship
Courtship also has led to
honour killing merely falling in love has also resulted in numerous cases of
honour killing.
Examples:-
Khap Panchayat, karo-kari
etc.
3. For Asserting
Independence
For leaving a modern an
independence existence and for making their own decisions and for not obeying
their husbands or families wishes, many young women are killed every year among
Hindu’s and Muslim’s.
4. To Control Female
Sexuality
This is also a reason in
which misconduct with a person against the family’s consent or extra marital or
pre-marital relationship has led to cold blooded murders.
5. To Prove Honour
Bound
In distorted brand of
social mobility and assertation, it seems that a section even among oppressed
communities like Dalit’s and tribal too are indulging in “honour” crimes in a
bid to prove that they are no less “honour bound” than the upper caste.
CONDITION ACROSS THE WORLD
By various countries
throughout the world reports submitted to the united nations commission on
human rights so that honour killing occurred in Bangladesh, Great Britain,
Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco,
Sweden, Turkey, Uganda and Syria.
In countries not
submitting reports to the United Nations the practice was condoned under the
rule of the fundamentalist Taliban government in Afghanistan and has been
reported in India and Iraq.
HONOUR KILLING IN INDIA
In India too the Plethora
of cases registered in the recent past has worried many NGO’s across the
country who refer it as-“Talibanisation of society”
The national commission
for women has recently made a plea for shunning the term “honour” and coining
another suitable term highlighting the heinousness of the crime.
We have had a tradition
on honour killing. This tradition was first viewed in its most horrible form
during the partition of the country in between the years 1947 to 1950. When
many women where forcefully killed so that family honour could be preserved and
after. So many decades as I said every year one thousand’s women and girls are
murdered. The honour killing has become common in many parts of the country
particularly Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, Rajasthan and Tamilnadu.
SUPREME COURTS VIEW
Recently Punjab and
Haryana High Court awarded death sentence to four accused on March 11, 2011. In
the Manjob-Bubli. Honour killing case.
On May 9 in the
significant ruling, the two judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising justice
Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra held that honour killing within the
rarest of rare cases deserving the death penalty. The bench delivered the
ruling while upholding the live sentence of a man for killing his daughter as
she had “dishonoured the family”. The court observed that “it is time to stamp
out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on our nation. This is
necessary as a deterrent for such outrageous, uncivilised behaviour all person
who are planning to perpetrate honour killing should know that the gallows
await them.
In the ruling Bhagwan Das
V/s state (NCT) of Delhi. The bench declared honour killing as a nothing but
barbaric and brutal murders by bigoted person with feudal minds. In bench
opinion “if someone is not happy with the behaviour of his daughter or other
person who is in his relation or his caste; the maximum he can do is to cut off
social relation with him or her.”
The home ministry has
made proposal to amend section 300 of IPC to define honour killing as a
separate crime. There is also a proposal to amend the Evidence Act, Code
of Criminal Procedure and the Special Marriage Act to check the menace of this
honour killing through a draft bill-the Indian Penal Code and certain other
laws (amendment bill 2010).
CONCLUSION
Therefore, it may be
concluded that society must take a serious note and should brought up issues
before the local Panchayat to find a harmonious solution otherwise through
proper legal action families must be punished.
We all know one molecule
of water that is H2O has two hydrogen atoms bonded to single oxygen item. In
nature hydrogen and oxygen are abundant, but they do not form water
automatically there must be a chemical reaction between the two and for such a
chemical reaction a certain amount of temperature and pressure etc. is
required.
In the same way if we
want a child according to our social and ideal scale, this will not happen
automatically. They will be end product of better guidance with value based
education, sense of responsibility, sense of social structure, ideals and
priorities.
So we can’t made
allegations against one side, they who are the part of honour killing are also
“so called accused” as they think the couples are.
To prevent such a thing
from happening in my opinion the steps should be taken are:-
1. Firstly, the
mentality of the people has to change, the must understand the actual meaning
of honour.
2. Honour killing is
a violation of article 21 of the Constitution of India. There must be sum major
amendments in IPC, Evidence Act and HMA as that there could be strict laws
regarding honour killing.
3. Like Punjab
establishment of protection home/centre at district levels to provide
protection to the inter-caste newly married couples.
4. The government,
international community, the NGO’s and local community need to integrate and
function as a unit.
5. Having women in
higher position of legal authority and in empowering women with dissent to
speak out on these issues has a tremendous impact on halting.
As rightly has been said
by Jacobo Timerman:
“It is very easy to hate
a Nazi, a guardian in a Gulag but the real danger is them. It is the decent people
who compromised with evil.”
- By RAJ PRASHAR