Honour killings in India : The Most gruesome crime

What is honour killing?

Honour killing is defined as killing for honour, a death that is awarded to the women or men by their own family members for marrying against their wishes or having a pre-marital relationship, marrying within the same gotra or marrying outside their caste. There are some others factors also that can lead to honour killing such as losing virginity before marriage and so on. The main reason contributing to this heinous crime is the mentality of people ,that they are not ready to accept the fact their childrens can marry in accordance with their own choices be it in their own caste, religion or outside their caste or religion. Sometimes it is not just about the caste or religion, there are certain cases in which the family murder their own people just because they do not want that tag of love marriage.

Honour Killing: Killing in defense of the so-called "izzat"

"Hamare Gar ki Izzat"(Honour of our house), I think that phrase suffices to explain the root cause of this heinous crime. Their so-called "izzat" diminishes when their daughters marry of their choice. They put the burden of izzat on their daughter's shoulders. These people are so hypocritical that they take drinking and domestic violence as pride. In India, there are families where the daughter of the family is expected to study and not leave the house, except for the purpose of going to school, completing her education, and marrying someone of the family's choice. They don't prioritize their daughter's choices, and they don't care about their opinions on marriage. A place where having a boyfriend is considered a sin, and a place where women are told to do everything after marriage. Marriage is the only key to their freedom.

Khap panchayat against Indian constitution

Aiming at decentralization and democratization, the Panchayati Raj System become brought in India Khap Panchayats, the so-known as courts of caste lords in a village, experience complete legitimacy and authority as `custodians of honor`. It is among them the retrogressive perspectives are sought to be implemented.

Khap Panchayats have operated ordinarily as caste panchayats, composed of higher and center caste landowners. They function judicial gadgets interdependent with the kingdom judiciary, constructed their electricity with the aid of using subordinating the negative and their diktats are aimed toward perpetuating caste hierarchies.

The existence of a khap panchayat is also responsible for an honor crime. Decisions in khap panchayat are for women affecting personal choices such as how to dress, how to dress, and whom to marry. Young girls are threatened, killed, and even forced to commit suicide, as in the khap sentence. Regarding women in these haphazardly governed regions, women's rights are unquestioned. Honor killings are nothing new to our country and can be traced back to our country's division, where several women were forcibly killed in defense of their honor. Honor crimes are against Articles 14, 15, 19, 21 and 39 of the Indian Constitution. The Increase in a number of honour killing is because the formal governance failed to reach to the rural areas and as a result, this practice continues and I today`s world the scenario is that this killing for honour is not only confined to rural areas rather it is common in the metropolitan cities like Delhi.

There are some initiatives that are taken by our government against the bodies like khap panchayat such as the law commission have drafted a bill titled “Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly 2011”. The bill provides for punishment for bodies that have ordered killing of couples that are accused of love marriage. Also there are number of cases where the judiciary has given pronouncements against these extra-constitutional bodies.

But still, the cases of honour killing are reported and the states having the highest reported case of honour killing in Uttar Pradesh. These crimes committed under the guise of honor violate human rights and violate the right to a dignified life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This shows the lack of such qualities as sympathy, love, compassion, and tolerance between the brothers, and leads to a crisis of confidence in the government apparatus that controls such killings.

This undermines the freedoms of institutions such as the police and judiciary.

Recent cases of honour killings in india

The murder of Aayushi Chaudhary highlights the horrors of caste patriarchy

Nitesh Kumar Yadav reportedly admitted to police that he woke up "in a furious state". A few days ago, police found the body of 22-year-old BCA student Aayushi Chaudhary in a red bag near Rai on the Yamuna Highway. All that is known is that Aayushi had a "secret" wedding to 24-year-old Chhatrapal Singh Gurjar, whom he had known since his school days. She tried to convince her parents to accept her husband, so she told her parents that she was pregnant. However, an autopsy confirmed that this was not the case. On Monday, November 21, Yadav, 49, and his wife, Brajbala, 45, performed final rites for Ayushi at Mathura. Parents were reportedly outraged by their daughter's "independent lifestyle". Their relationship deteriorated when she confessed to being married to Gurjar.

According to police, Ayushi's parents ordered him to stay away from Gurjar. Upon learning this, she was furious and during an argument with her parents, she said that her stomach hurt, probably from her pregnancy. Yadav shot her and his wife helped him dispose of his daughter's body.

Agra's MP (City) MP Singh said, "Ayushi arranged the marriage at Arya Samaj Mandir a year ago and registered with the Shahdar Court in October of this year, but Ayushi wanted her parents to accept and 'ready' to marry her. Go back to Gurjar in public.”

• May 6, 2022: Syed Ashrin Sultana, also known as Pallavi, married Nagaraja, a 25-year-old Dalit. Her Muslim family killed her husband in Hyderabad. She is said to have told the whole story to the police.
• 14 June 2022: In Tamil Nadu, Sakthivel, 31, killed her sister Saranya, 24, and her husband, Mohan, 31, in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu. Mohan was from the Niker caste and Saranya was a Dalit. Sakthivel said his sister wanted to marry her friend Ranjit, 28. But when the two got married without permission, he invited them to dinner and hacked them to death.
• 9 November 2022: A man is reported to have drowned his daughter in the Balari region of Karnataka. He has already warned her not to continue with her man (resolving relationship issues in general). When she refused to listen to her, he pushed her into her swimming pool.
• 18 November 2022: Police found the mutilated bodies of Sonu Singh, 28, and Rahul Mina, 30, in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Sonu belonged to the Rajput community while Rahul was from a tribal community.

These are just four of the recent cases of honor killings in India, and many go unreported. There are stories in our country of parents killing their own children because they "stained the family honor" by marrying someone of a different caste or caste. There are also times when families kills when a child identifies as transgender or identifies as queer.

India Honor Killing Statistics

According to National Crime Agency statistics for 2020, there have been a total of 25 honor killings (states + union territories) in India. Between 2017 and 2018, only one such murder was reported, and the motive for the killing was honor.

However, a 2019 NGO report found that there were 195 honor killings in Tamil Nadu alone. This means that several cases remain unreported. This article alone mentions three such cases in November 2022. You never know if there are more.

Conclusion

However, as long as society values ​​caste patriarchy (internalized patriarchy) above the actual lives of their children, this horrific practice is likely to continue.