Enlightening and informative presentation on Honour Killing which is one of the prevailing social evil in our society is made by Debasree Debnath.

1. Honor Killing in India : An Analysis
Debasree Debnath

2. Contents
• Introduction
• Meaning of Honour Killing
• Origin of Honour Killing
• Features of Honour-Based Violence
• Khap Panchayat
• Some Reality of Honour Killing
• Indian scenario of Honour Killing
• Honour Killing : Violating the Basic
Human Rights
• Misconceptions Relating to Honour
Killing
• Factors Leading to Rise in Honour
Killing
• Honour Injustice in India
• Reasons of Honour Killing
• Incidents of Honour Killing in India
• Measures to Protect the Victims of
Honour Killing
• Judicial Perspectives
• Suggestions
• Conclusion

3. • In today’s era also India is not free from the dark sides of our society.
Peoples have some caste barrier believe in our society. One of the
prominent among them is the honour killing. This practice prevails from
the past several years. Honour killing or customary killing is the unlawful
killing of the girl or boy in the name of honour.
• In honour killing the boy or the girl marry within their same gotra. The root
cause of this crime is that the family members believe that they brought
dishonour to their family, but what they forgot is that, there is no honour to
kill their own family members.
Introduction

4. Meaning of Honour Killing
• The term Honour Killing is first used by the Dutch Turkey expert of the
university of Leiden Ane Nauta in 1978.
• An honour killing or customary killing is the murder of a female or male or
both by one or more fellow (mostly male) family members, where the
murderers believe the victim to have brought dishonour upon the family,
clan, or community".
• Honor killing is a barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by
brutal, feudal-minded persons who deserve harsh punishment.

5. Origin of Honour Killing
• The origin of Honor Killing dates back to the ancient Rome, China and
Egypt. In ancient Rome being raped was seen as dishonourable to the point
of destroying a women’s life and reputation and Honor Killing was
supposed to be a merciful act.
• Honor killing was practised in eastern societies also. The reason was the
same, i.e., the family members believe that the particular person bring
dishonour to their family.

6. Features of Honour-Based Violence
Victims
Young women
and men and
teenage girls and
boys
May have no
history of physical
abuse
Perpetrators
Victims own
family
Collectively/collabo
ration
Community
Pressure to
act/approval
Lack of co-
operation
with Country
Code
Judgement
(CCJ) system
Premeditation

7. Khap Panchayat
• A Khap Panchayat is a cluster of villages united by caste and geography.
• The main thinking is that all boys and girls within a Khap are considered
siblings.
• Khap Panchayat governs the Khap formed by same gotra (clan) families
from several neighbouring villages.
• Khap Panchayat is prevailing in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan etc.
• Those living in a Khap are not allowed to marry in the same gotra or even
in any gotra from the same village. Many young couples have been killed
in the past defying Khap rules.

8. Some Reality of Honour Killing

9. Indian Scenario of Honour Killing
• In India the crime ration of Honor Killing is very high. The paramount
reason for this practices in India because of the fact that, Caste system
continues to be at its rigid form in our society. The people from rural and
even in urban areas refuse to change their attitude to marriage.
• These people believe that, if their daughter or son marries within the same
gotra it brings dishonour to their family for which they punish them, which
ultimately leads to the death sentence.

10. Indian Scenario of Honour Killing (Contd...)
• In India most of the crimes are reported from the states of Punjab, Haryana,
Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh and other parts of Northern and Western
India.
• The bitter reality of this crime is that the family member themselves murder
their family member in the name of honour, which is very much shameful.
• According to statistics from the United Nations, one in five cases of
Honour Killing internationally every year come from India. Of the 5000
cases reported internationally, 1000 are from India.

11. Honour Killing : Violating the Basic Human
Rights
• Human Rights Issue
• The Concept of Human Dignity
• Honour Killing : A Violation of Right to Life
• Honour Killing : A Violation of Right to Marry and to have a Family

12. Misconceptions Relating to Honour Killing
• Honor Killing is limited to the rural areas.
• It has religious belief.
• By murdering someone’s own family
member bring the honour back into the family.
• Honor Killing may involve acts like torture
and physical abuse.

13. Factors Leading to Rise in Honour Killing
• Political Support.
• Gender Discrimination.
• Illiteracy of the people.
• False believe in the Caste system.
• For the sake of pride.
• There is no proper Law to deal with
this cursed practise, except the
Indian Penal Code, although there is
no proper mention of the term
‘Honour Killing.’
• No Local/Domestic Laws are there
in our society to deal with this ill
practice.
• The accused person who killed the
victims almost remain unpunished.

14. Honour injustice in India
• Delhi
• Haryana
• Uttar Pradesh
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Bihar
• Tamil Nadu

15. Reasons of Honour Killing
• The family members believe that
the girl or boy bring dishonour to
their family.
• Refusing arranged marriage.
• Marrying a person outside the
Caste or Religion.
• Seeking divorce from the husband
or if the wife is engaged in
adultery.
• Rape of a women.
• Engaging in Lesbian or Gay
relationships.

16. Incidents of Honour Killing in India
• On December 7, 2012 a heinous incident took place in Kolkata where in
the name of “honour” a person beheaded his sister and walked to the police
station with the knife from which he executes the murder.
• Nirupama Pathak, a twenty two year old journalist, reportedly three months
pregnant were allegedly killed by her family, near her home in Jharkhand
on April 2010, because of falling in love with a lower caste boy.
• On June 15, 2007 Manoj and Babli drowned death by their relatives for
marrying within the same gotra.

17. Incidents of Honour Killing in India (Contd...)
Name of the
Victim and year of
the incident
Method of Killing Perpetrator Reason For
Violence
Nilofer Bibi
December 7, 2012
Publicly Beheaded
with a Sword
Brother Dishonouring the
family by running
off with a lover
Jithu Mohan
October 13, 2012
Kidnapped and
Burned to Death
Girlfriend’s
Relatives
In a Relationship
with a Muslim Girl
(he is a Hindu)
Zahida and Husna
May 2011
Strangled to Death Mothers Both girls (not
related) married
Hindu men
Rehana Parveen Strangled to Death Father (and possibly
more family
members)
Would “bring a bad
name to the family”
if she married her
Hindu Boyfriend.

18. Measures to Protect the Victims of Honour
Killing
• Such killings also violates Articles 14, 15 (1) & (3), 19 and 21 of the
Constitution of India.
• In Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India ,AIR 1981 SC 746, the Court gave a
new dimension to Article 21 of the Constitution. It held that the right to
‘live’ is not merely confined to physical existence but it includes within its
ambit the right to live with human dignity.
• Elaborating the same view the Court in Francis Coralie v. Union Territory
of Delhi, AIR 1978 SC 597 the Court said that the right to live is not
restricted to mere animal existence. It means something more than just
physical survival.

19. Measures to Protect the Victims of Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• Under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Sagotra marriage is permitted and it
is not violative of any provision of the law.
• The Special Marriage Act, 1954 was also enacted to provide a special form
of marriage for the people of India and all Indians residing in foreign
countries, irrespective of the religion or faith followed by either party, to
perform the intended marriage.

20. Measures to Protect the Victims of Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• In 1990 the National Commission for Women set up a statutory body in
order to address the issues of Honor Killings among some ethnic groups in
North India. This video reviewed Constitutional, legal and other provisions
as well as challenges women face.
• In June 2010, scrutinizing the increasing number of Honor Killings, the
Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Central Government and six
States including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to take
preventive measures against Honor Killings.

21. Measures to Protect the Victims of Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• UN Resolution which was passed on October 24, 2002 at the 57th Sessions
of United Nations General Assembly 3rd Committee, the UN Resolution,
working towards the elimination of crimes committed in the name of honor
was passed.
• CEDAW is the most comprehensive women’s rights treaty in the world. It
mandates countries to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women,
including discriminatory customs or religious practices.

22. Laws and International Conventions on Honour
Killing
• The incidents of honour killings are cruel affront on the right to life and
personal liberty entrenched in Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Life is
an important asset of every human being. Any kind of interference in it is
always condemned by the law. Killing in the name of honour is real threat
to the right to life of the individual.

23. Laws and International Conventions on Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• Honour Killings are cases of homicide and murder which are grave crimes
under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860. Section 299 and 301 of the IPC,
deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder while Section 300,
deals with murder. Honour killing will come under the purview of Section
299 and 300 of the IPC because the acts are done with the intention of
murdering the victims as they have purportedly brought dishonour upon the
family. The perpetrators can be punished as per Section 302 of the IPC.
Such killings also violates Articles 14, 15 (1) & (3), 17, 19 and 21 of the
Constitution of India.

24. Laws and International Conventions on Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• Under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Sagotra marriage is permitted and it
is not violative of any provision of the law. The Special Marriage Act, 1954
was also enacted to provide a special form of marriage for the people of
India and all Indians residing in foreign countries, irrespective of the
religion or faith followed by either party, to perform the intended marriage.
• The Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act 1946 expressly declared the
validity of marriages between the Hindus belonging to the same ‘gotra’ or
‘pravara’or different sub-divisions of same caste.

25. Laws and International Conventions on Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• Articles 3 and 5, of the UDHR provides that, women are entitled to enjoy
the “right to life, liberty and security of person” and also the “right to be
free from torture or cruel, inhuman and or degrading treatment”.
• According to Article 16 of the UDHR, all the men and women are given
the right to marry who is of full age of marriage without any discrimination
of race, nationality or religion. Although the UDHR has no legal force, it is
the world’s most translated document.
• Article 6(1) of the ICCPR provides, every people have the right to live and
the law should protect this right.

26. Laws and International Conventions on Honour
Killing (Contd...)
• Article 12 of the International Convention on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1976 provides that, the State parties have to take
all steps to ensure the “right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health”, is ensured.
• Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) also ensure to give equal right to men and women and provide
human dignity.

27. Judicial Perspectives
• Our Judiciary plays a vital role in preventing this ill practice from our
society. There are several cases which reveal shocking incidents in our
country which relate to Honor Killings.
• Bhagwan Das v. State (Nct) of Delhi (2011) 6 SCC 396 (404).
• Lata Singh v. State Of UP AIR 2007 SC.
• Arumugam Servai vs. State of Tamil Nadu (2011) 6 SCC 405.
• Madhu Priya Singh vs. State of UP , (2004) DMC 294.

28. Suggestions
• Raise education through awareness.
• Sent letters to the relevant heads of the countries where this is happening
and advice them to act immediately.
• Amendment of Indian Penal Code, 1860 to include Honor Killings as a
separate offence.

29. Conclusion
• Honour Killing is a global problem. There is a need to be focus on raising
public awareness and the most effective methods in reducing honour-based
murder is to highlight and humanize each killing and crime and make it
known to everyone, including Legislators, media, public and the relevant
authorities.