Honor Killing in India

Honor killings have been reported in northern regions of India, mainly in the Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, as a result of people marrying without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion. In contrast, honor killings are rare to non-existent in South India and the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. In some other parts of India, notably West Bengal, honor killings completely ceased about a century ago, largely due to the activism and influence of reformists such as Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Vidyasagar and Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Few Real Life Examples

Fadime Sahindal, a Turkish immigrant in Sweden, was threatened and shamed by her family when she chose her own boyfriend instead of agreeing to a traditional arranged marriage and spoke out to the Swedish media about her family.The Swedish government helped protect her by giving her a false identity, but when she made a secret trip to visit her mother and sisters, her father shot her in the head. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced for life to prison.

British Pakistani Samaira Nazir had rejected the suitors her family had brought to her, and instead planned to marry an Afghan immigrant. Her family, however, disapproved of him because he was from a different caste. Her brother, Azhar Nazir, and her cousin, Imram Mohammed, murdered her in front of several members of her family by stabbing her 18 times with four different knives. The two were sentenced to life in prison, and her father was set to go to trial as well, but died before the trial.

Punishment For Honor Killing in India

The Union Cabinet is scheduled to consider a bill that proposes introduction of an additional definition of "murder" under the Indian Penal Code proposing stringent measures to deter elders from taking part in decisions of khap panchayats ordering honour killings at its meeting on Thursday. 

After weighing between the ordinance route and amendment to the IPC and related laws governing the procedure in the criminal justice system, the home ministry felt that the latter method would be more effective in deterring the khap panchayats from ordering killing of young couples marrying within the gotra. 

The Indian Penal Code & Certain Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, proposes to introduce "fifthly" clause to Section 300 of IPC which at present defines "murder" under four categories. The proposed additional definition would make khap dictated honour killings a distinct offence and would make all those who participate in the decision liable to be tried for the main charge, that is murder. This would make him liable for the maximum penalty that is death sentence. 

Under the present legal regime, anyone participating in a khap panchayat could at best be roped in for being a party to the conspiracy that generally attracts a maximum punishment ranging from five years to life term. 

The other four categories of culpable homicide amounting to murder already defined under Section 300 are: 

* if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death 

* secondly, if it is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused 

* thirdly, if it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death 

* fourthly, if the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury as aforesaid 

The spate of honour killings in Delhi and Haryana had ushered in the `immediacy' along with 'necessity' for laws to be tuned to meet the kangaroo courts. 

The Cabinet is also likely to consider the proposed changes to other laws, including the Indian Evidence Act and Hindu Marriage Act, for remedial measures to protect innocent young couples and deter the khap panchayats. It proposes to define in clear terms what offending action constitute "perceived dishonour" and "dishonour". 

The likely changes in the laws intend to act stringently against those taking a decision to socially boycott young couples and their parents in the name of breach of social norm. 

The Cabinet is also likely to consider amending the existing laws to provide for deterrent punishment to those who parade a woman naked in the streets of a village terming her as a witch. At present such crimes are punishable under Section 354 of IPC for outraging the modesty of a woman and attracts a modest punishment of two years imprisonment.

Example of the poem ' Lord Ullin's Daughter '

The poem Lord Ullin's Daughter is also an example of honor killing where the daughter of Lord Ullin and her lover who die a very sorrowful death when chased by her father and his men.The poem begins with the daughter and her lover, the Scottish chieftain arriving at the banks of Lochgyle with the intention of eloping to a safer place. The lover offers the boatman a silver pound to cross them to safety. The weather is stormy and it is very dangerous to cross the Lochgyle in such a state. The lover introduces himself as the chief of Ulva and that he is running from Lord Ullin’s men. He tells the boatman that if the Lord’s men catch him eloping with her daughter, they would immediately slay him. The boatman hesitates because agreeing can cost him all of the three lives. Then the beautiful daughter of Lord Ullin pleads to the boatman; she says that she is ready to face the raging storm but not her angry father. Finally, the boatman agrees to take them across Lochgyle.The boat has left the shore when Lord Ullin and his men reach. Lord Ullin’s anger evaporates at the moment when he sees his darling daughter fighting with Nature’s fury on the sea. His heart melts and he cries out to her to return and that he would accept her lover. But it is too late and before the Lord could do anything, the little boat capsizes and the three of them are drowned in the turbulent waters of Lochgyle.

Methods

Methods of killing include stoning, stabbing, beating, burning, beheading, hanging, throat slashing, lethal acid attacks, shooting and strangulation. The murders are sometimes performed in public to warn the other women within the community of possible consequences of engaging in what is seen as illicit behavior.

What is Honor Killing

Honor killings are acts of vengeance, usually death, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life.Although rarely, men can also be the victims of honor killings by members of the family of a woman with whom they are perceived to have an inappropriate relationship. The loose term "honor killing" applies to killing of both men and women in cultures that practice it.