Honour Killing and the Current Criminal Law Approach

- A Critical Study
_________________________________________________
A project submitted in total fulfillment of the course CRIMINAL LAW-
I, 3rd SEMESTER during the academic year 2019-2020
_______________________________________________
Submitted By:
Ayushman Kishore (2015)
B.B.A. LL.B.
_________________________________________________
Submitted to:

Dr. Peter F. Ladis
FACULTY OF CRIMINAL LAW-I
_________________________________________________

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA- 800001

__________________________________________________________

September 2019

1
 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE
__________________________________________

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) Project
Report entitled “Honour Killing and the Current Criminal Law Approach- A
Critical Study” submitted at Chanakya National Law University, Patna is
an authentic record of my work carried out under the supervision of Dr. Peter
F. Ladis. I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other degree or
diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

_____________________
(Signature of the Candidate)
Ayushman Kishore,
Roll- 2015,

Chanakya National Law University, Patna

Date- /09/2019
Place- Chanakya National Law University, Patna

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
_________________________________________

“IF YOU WANT TO WALK FAST GO ALONE

IF YOU WANT TO WALK FAR GO TOGETHER”

This project would not have been completed without combined effort of my
revered Criminal Law I teacher Dr. Peter F. Ladis whose support and
guidance was the driving force to successfully complete this project. I
express my heartfelt gratitude to him. Thanks are also due to my parents,
family, siblings, my dear friends and all those who helped me in this project
in any way. Last but not the least; I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to our Criminal Law- I teacher for providing us with such a golden
opportunity to showcase my potential. Also this project was instrumental in
making me know more about the Jurisdiction of Sessions Court in India.
This project played an important role in making me understand more about
the functionality of Sessions Court in India. It was truly an endeavor which
enabled me to embark on a journey which redefined my intelligentsia,
induced my mind to discover the intricacies involved in the competency of
the working of Sessions Court in India

Moreover, thanks to all those who helped me in any way be it words,

presence, encouragement and blessings...!

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
_________________________________________________________

Declaration.................................................................................................2
Acknowledgement.....................................................................................3
Table of Contents.......................................................................................4
Aims and Objectives...................................................................................5
Research Methodology...............................................................................5
Limitations..................................................................................................5

1. Introduction............................................................................................6-7 


2. Culture and Origin of Honour Killing.>................................................8-10 


3. Honour killing in India…………..........................................................11-13




4. Indian Legal Aspect for Honour Killing................................................14-17



5. Judicial Standing in Honour Killing......................................................18-20



6. Suggestions & Conclusion.....................................................................21-22




Bibliography................................................................................................23

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 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
With this project the researcher intends to:

1. To have an understanding of the scenario behind Honour killing.

2. To analyse the present situation with the help of relevant case laws.

3. To study the recent development and efforts made to prevent it.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 

The researcher has used the doctrinal method of research in the completion of this
project on “Honour Killing and the Current Criminal Law Approach- A Critical
Study”. Various e-articles, reports, magazines and books from library were used
extensively in framing all the data and figures in appropriate form, essential for this
study. The method of writing used in this research project is primarily analytical.

LIMITATIONS

The presented research is confined to a time limit of one week and this research
contains only doctrinal works which are limited to library sources.

5
 INTRODUCTION
_________________________________________________________

An honour killing or shame killing1 is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief
that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or has violated the principles of a
community or a religion, usually for reasons such as divorcing or separating from their spouse, refusing
to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their family, having
premarital or extramarital sex, becoming the victim of rape or sexual assault, dressing in ways which are
deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith2.

Honour killing means the issue of killings of couples who married within the same sub-caste or against
the wishes of their parents. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each
year in the name of family "honour." It's difficult to get precise numbers on the phenomenon of honour
killing; the murders frequently go unreported, the perpetrators unpunished, and the concept of family
honor justifies the act in the eyes of some societies. “Most honor killings occur in countries where the
concept of women as a vessel of the family reputation predominates”, said Marsha Freemen, director of
International Women's Rights Action Watch at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the
University of Minnesota.

Reports submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights show that honor killings have
occurred in Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan,
Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda. In countries not submitting reports to the UN, the practice was
condoned under the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban government in Afghanistan, and has been
reported in Iraq and Iran.

But while honour killings have elicited considerable attention and outrage, human rights activists argue
that they should be regarded as part of a much larger problem of violence against women. In India, for

1
"SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN ADDRESS TO "WOMEN 2000" SPECIAL SESSION, SAYS FUTURE OF PLANET DEPENDS
UPON WOMEN". United Nations.
2
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/honour+killing?s=t
6
example, more than 5,000 brides die annually because their dowries are considered insufficient,
according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Crimes of passion, which are treated
extremely leniently in Latin America, are the same thing with a different name, some rights advocates
say.

"In countries where Islam is practiced, they're called honor killings, but dowry deaths and so-called
crimes of passion have a similar dynamic in that the women are killed by male family members and the
crimes are perceived as excusable or understandable," said Widney Brown, advocacy director for
Human Rights Watch. The practice, she said, "goes across cultures and across religions."

Complicity by other women in the family and the community strengthens the concept of women as
property and the perception that violence against family members is a family and not a judicial issue.
"Females in the family—mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters, and cousins—frequently support the attacks.
It's a community mentality” said Zaynab Nawaz, a program assistant for women's human rights at
Amnesty International. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each year
in the name of family "honor." It's difficult to get precise numbers on the phenomenon of honor killing;
the murders frequently go unreported, the perpetrators unpunished, and the concept of family honor
justifies the act in the eyes of some societies.

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 individuals within the community of possible consequences of engaging in what is seen as
illicit behavior.

7
 CULTURE AND ORIGIN OF HONOUR KILLING
__________________________________________________________

The distinctive nature of honor killings is the collective nature of the crime – many members of an
extended family plan the act together, sometimes through a formal "family council". A significant
feature is the connection of honor killings to the control of an individual's behavior, in particular in
regard to sexuality/marriage, by the family as a collective. Another key aspect is the importance of the
reputation of the family in the community, and the stigma associated with losing social status,
particularly in tight-knit communities. Perpetrators often do not face negative stigma within their
communities, because their behavior is seen as justified.3

Honor killings of older victims are often perpetrated by the husband, but in 44% of cases the killers also
include family members of the either the victim or the husband.4 The rate of participation by relatives is
higher in the Muslim world at two thirds of cases involving older victims, while in Europe the family
participates in 31% of cases. Nearly half the older victims were subject to torture before they died.
While, Honor killings of younger women were in 81% of cases perpetrated by their family of origin and
53% of the younger victims were tortured before they died.

Matthew A. Goldstein, J.D. (Arizona), has noted that honor killings were encouraged in ancient Rome,
where male family members who did not take action against the female adulterers in their families were
"actively persecuted".

The origin of honor killings and the control of women is evidenced throughout history in the cultures
and traditions of many regions. The Roman law of pater familias gave complete control to the men of
the family over both their children and wives. Under these laws, the lives of children and wives were at
the discretion of the men in their families. Ancient Roman Law also justified honor killings by stating
that women who were found guilty of adultery could be killed by their husbands.

3
"FAQ". Hbv-awareness.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
4
Chesler, Phyllis (1 March 2010). "Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings". Middle East Quarterly.
8
 During the Qing dynasty in China, fathers and husbands had the right to kill daughters who were
deemed to have dishonored the family.5

Among the Amerindian Aztecs and Incas, adultery was punishable by death. During John Calvin’s rule
of Geneva, women found guilty of adultery were punished by being drowned in the Rhone river.6

Honor killings have a long tradition in Mediterranean Europe. According to the “Honour Related
Violence – European Resource Book and Good Practice” (page 234): "Honor in the Mediterranean
world is a code of conduct, a way of life and an ideal of the social order, which defines the lives, the
customs and the values of many of the peoples in the Mediterranean moral".

The cultural features that lead to honor killings are complex. Honor killings involve violence and fear as
a tool of maintaining control. Honor killings are argued to have their origins among nomadic peoples
and herdsmen: such populations carry all their valuables with them and risk having them stolen, and
they do not have proper recourse to law. As a result, inspiring fear, using aggression, and cultivating a
reputation for violent revenge in order to protect property is preferable to other behaviors. In societies
where there is a weak rule of law, people must build fierce reputations.7

In many cultures where honor is of central value, men are sources, or active generators/agents of that
honor, while the only effect that women can have on honor is to destroy it. Once the family's or clan's
honor is considered to have been destroyed by a woman, there is a need for immediate revenge to
restore it, in order for the family to avoid losing face in the community. As Amnesty International
statement notes:

The regime of honour is unforgiving: women on whom suspicion has fallen are not given an opportunity
to defend themselves, and family members have no socially acceptable alternative but to remove the
stain on their honour by attacking the woman.

The relation between social views on female sexuality and honor killings is complex. The way through
which women in honor-based societies are considered to bring dishonor to men is often through their
sexual behavior. Indeed, violence related to female sexual expression has been documented since
Ancient Rome, when the pater familias had the right to kill an unmarried sexually active daughter or an
adulterous wife. In medieval Europe, early Jewish law mandated stoning for an adulterous wife and her
partner.

5
http://hbv-awareness.com/history/
6
http://hbv-awareness.com/history/
7
"Historical Context – Origins of Honour Killing / Honour Killing – Worldwide / Honour Killing – In Countries with Islamic Law
– Preliminary Examination of so-called Honour Killings in Canada". Justice.gc.ca. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
9
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, an anthropology professor at Rhode Island College, writes that an act, or even
alleged act, of any female sexual misconduct, upsets the moral order of the culture, and bloodshed is the
only way to remove any shame brought by the actions and restore social equilibrium. However, the
relation between honor and female sexuality is a complicated one, and some authors argue that it is not
women's sexuality per se that is the 'problem', but rather women's self-determination in regard to it, as
well as fertility. Sharif Kanaana, professor of anthropology at Birzeit University, says that honor killing
is:
“A complicated issue that cuts deep into the history of Islamic society is what the men of the family,
clan, or tribe seek control of in a patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were
considered a factory for making men. The honour killing is not a means to control sexual power or
behavior. What's behind it is the issue of fertility, or reproductive power.”

In some cultures, honor killings are considered less serious than other murders simply because they arise
from long-standing cultural traditions and are thus deemed appropriate or justifiable. Additionally,
according to a poll done by the BBC's Asian network, 1 in 10 of the 500 young south Asians surveyed
said they would condone any murder of someone who threatened their family's honor.

10
 HONOUR KILLING IN INDIA
__________________________________________________________

Indian society is a multicultural and pluralistic society where a lot of beliefs and faith regulate the
human life of the citizens. The Indian spiritual holy books i.e., The Bhagvad Gita, The Mahabharata,
The Quran, The Bible, etc., have been the model of thinking pattern on Indian Society. People are also
influenced by the caste system and other traditional practices, which they believe to follow throughout
their lives. And one such thing, which Indian people consider very precious, is Honour. In a patriarchal
society, women are considered as bearer of honour of the family. This perception is so well entrenched
that any attempt by women to assert their rights is seen as an attack on the cultural norms of the
community and is strongly countered. And these counter activities taken by the family in the name of
honour is known as Honour Killing. Women are targeted for various reasons, including, inter caste or
inter religion marriage, refusal to enter into arranged marriage, being victim of sexual assault, seeking
divorce even from an abusive husband or (allegedly) committing adultery. Sometimes men also fall
victim of such killings, such as by members of women’s family with whom he is perceived to have an
inappropriate relationship. Though there are no specific laws on such killings, certain other provisions in
statutes are used to punish the perpetrators. Due to this, such crimes go unreported or are passed off as
suicide or natural deaths by the family members involved.

REASONS FOR PREVALENCE OF HONOUR KILLING:

1. Patriarchal Mindset
Honour Killing is often associated with the term “Honour”. In defining honour, many theorists
emphasize the power of the parallel concept of shame. Honour is a concept, which is always linked with
women of the family. And men are considered to monitor women and prevent women from abusing the
so-called honour. This shows the patriarchal design still prevalent in our society. Men are allowed to
move freely during late hours while women are not allowed to do so. From the way a women dress to
the person she marries are related with the honour of the family. Women’s rights and their will and
choices are seen as oppression against these social norms and traditions. Hence, only when people

11
 become open minded and respect the choices of women or men in deciding their personal life, these
honour killings can come to an end.

2. Caste system
The existence of caste system in Indian Society is a curse on the nation and will soon destroy the better.
Though many reforms are brought in law, many documentaries and value education is given to people,
this view towards caste is still stable. Where on inter-caste marriage is denied by certain cultural groups,
certain intra caste marriage is also denied as a person is not allowed to marry in his/her gotra (Singhal or
of their parents gotra. And not only inter-caste marriage leads to large number of honour killings but
also inter religious marriages. The National Commission of Women (NCW) study shows that among
326 cases of conflict surveyed, 72% due to couple crossed caste barriers and 3% due to couple from
same gotra.8

In a Supreme Court case (Latha Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh9), it was stated by Justice Markandey
Katju that “Honour Killings are nothing but cold blooded murder and no honour is involved in such
killings”. The Supreme Court also observed “inter-caste and inter-religious marriages should be
encouraged to strengthen the social fabric of society.”10
The younger generations could understand how much importance a caste has to be given and not while
people of older age couldn’t overcome their feelings on caste system and hold it tightly. Only if this
primitive ideology of casteism is eradicated, there can be peace and equality and freedom of women’s
rights in the society.

3. Khap Panchayat and vote bank politics

Khap Panchayats are a group of persons or a community organization especially found in villages and in
Northern India to exert a social influence within the community. Khap panchayat take law in their own
hands and indulge in offensive activities which endanger the personal lives of persons marrying
according to their free will. There are many judicial decisions provided by the Courts against the action
of Khap Panchayats. One such landmark case is Smt Laxmi Kachhwaha v. the State of Rajasthan
(1999). In this case a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Rajasthan High Court against the illegal
functioning of Khap Panchayat violating the individual's basic rights. The Court ordered State
authorities to restrict the functioning of such Panchayat and ensure arrest and punishment of its
members. And later in Arumugam Servai v. State of Tamil Nadu (2011), the Apex Court opined about
the majority age of the person and their decision of marrying the person they like and observed that

8
Muruganathan. S, Honour Killing the menace- A case study in Tamil Nadu, International Journal of Management Research and
Social Science, Vol 1, Issue 1, 2014
9
(2006) 5 SCC 475
10
Anand Mishra, Honour Killings: the Law it is and the Law it Ought to be, Manupatra.
12
 Khap Panchayats encourage honour killing and interfere with the personal lives of people.11 Therefore it
should be abolished completely. There are many other cases where Courts declared Khap Panchayats as
illegal and ruled them out. And vote bank politics12 is also major reason for not bringing a law against
honour killings.

4. Lack of education
The lack of awareness and education of people on the rights guaranteed to them and how to claim their
rights are one of the reasons for such honour killings.

5. No separate and strict laws

Honour killings though seen as a customary crime is not yet recognized in Indian Laws. In spite of
increase in honour related crimes and judgments and expressions of outrage in Courts across India, the
Governments have displayed criminal negligence in their approach to these crimes. There is no
definition of the crime, no legal recognition of various aspects of the crime, no protection afforded to
self- choice couples, no measures to prevent such crimes, no accountability and no punishment. These
killings are reported only under two categories – Murder (section 302 of Indian Penal Code) and
Culpable Homicide (Section 304 of IPC). Due to this, most of the killings were unreported or reported
under murder. Hence there is no proper statistics of such killings in India.
But only because of sustained campaign by women’s groups, a separate category was created for
compiling honour-killing cases. Only in 2014, the National Crime Bureau (NCRB)13 data collection of
honour killings which revealed 297% number jump on rigorous data collection on this issue. The
country has registered 251 honour-killing cases in 2015 against 28 in 2014 recording a big spike in
murders carried in the name of honour.

11
Kavitha Kachhwaha, Khap Adjudication in India: Honouring the Culture with Crimes, International Journal of Criminal Justice
Sciences, Vol.6, Issue 1&2, 2011
12
Editorials, Vote Bank Politics delaying a law against honour killing, Hindustan Times, 2016, www.hindustantimes.com
13
Sneha singh, Honour Killings in India: Need for composite and strict legal framework, International Journal of Interdisciplinary
and multidisciplinary studies, Vol.4, Issue 3, 2017
13
 INDIAN LEGAL APPROACH for HONOUR KILLING
__________________________________________________________

Normally the cases of ‘honour killings’ were admitted inside the courts in India, in the forms of
homicide or manslaughter. But after seeing the nature and the facts of the killings, courts were also used
to follow the flimsy, so-called “honour” of the family in the name of which the heinous crime was done
and the perpetrators usually were rescued. This we can observe from the judgment of Supreme Court, in
which Justice VS Sirpurkar and Justice Deepak Verma said it wasn’t a rarest of rare case. “The murders
were the outcome of a social issue like a marriage with a person of so-called lower caste. Such killings
do not fall in the category of the rare of the rarest as the family of the girl has to face lot of taunts and
humiliation in the society for the acts of the girl. However, time has come when we have to consider
these social issues relevant while considering death sentence in such circumstances,” they said. In other
words, the court classified the shameful caste-based ‘honour killings’ as different from other homicides
in which the maximum punishment of death can be awarded. In this case the brother of the girl, who
belonged to Uttar Pradesh, had killed five members including his brother-in-law who was a Scheduled
Caste.

This was the earlier tradition, but nowadays from the various judgments of the courts we can say that
now the ‘honour killings’ are not termed differently. Courts through their judgments had reiterated that
killing anyone even in the name of ‘honour’ is the violation of the constitution of India and anyone
going contrary to the constitution will be punished. This we can see from the following cases.

In a landmark judgment, in March 2010, the Karnal District Court ordered the execution of the five
perpetrators in an ‘honour killing’ case of Manoj & Babli, while giving a life sentence to the khap (local
caste-based council) head who ordered the killings of Manoj Banwala (23) and Babli (19), two members
of the same clan who eloped and married in June 2007 and later their mutilated bodies were found a
week later from an irrigation canal. In her verdict, district judge Vani Gopal Sharma stated, “This court
has gone through sleepless nights and tried to put itself in the shoes of the offenders. Khap panchayats
have functioned contrary to the constitution, ridiculed it and have become a law unto themselves”. The
case was both the first court judgment convicting khap panchayats and the first capital punishment
14
verdict in an honour killing case in India. The Indian media and legal experts hailed it as a “landmark
judgment”. Also, few honour-killing cases go to court, and this is the first case in which the groom’s
family in an honour killing filed the case.

In August, 2010 the Supreme Court in a case of State of U.P. v. Krishna master & Ors awarded life
sentence to three persons who caused the death of six persons of a family in a case of ‘honour’ killing at
a village in Uttar Pradesh in 1991. A Bench of Justices H.S. Bedi and J.M. Panchal reversed the order of
acquittal passed by the Allahabad High Court after the trial court handed them the death sentence. The
Bench said: “There is no manner of doubt that killing six persons and wiping out almost the whole
family on the flimsy ground of saving the honour of the family would fall within the rarest of rare cases
and, therefore, the trial court was perfectly justified in imposing the capital punishment on the
respondents.”

Also a bench of Supreme Court headed by Justice Markandey Katju in the case of Lata Singh Vs State
of Uttar Pradesh and others had said, ”Honour killings are nothing but barbaric cold blooded murder
and no honour is involved in such killings.” The Supreme Court while dropping all criminal
proceedings against Singh’s husband and her in-laws had gone to the extent of observing that ”inter-
caste and inter-religious marriages should be encouraged to strengthen the social fabric of society.”

Thus we can see that in lack of any specific law on ‘Honour killing’ the judgments of the cases are
normally conflicting. But now after the landmark judgments of Supreme Court cited above we can
normally presume that where there is ‘rule of law’, law does not rescue any person to kill anyone in the
name of honour of his family or clan.

Moving to any ‘statutory body’ set-up till now in India on the issue of ‘honour killing’, we will find that
till now only a single statutory body had been set-up that too in 1990. The National Commission for
Women set up a statutory body in order to address the issues of honour killings among some ethnic
groups in North India. This body reviewed constitutional, legal and other provisions as well as
challenges women face. The NCW’s activism has contributed significantly towards the reduction of
honour killings in rural areas of North India.

Bill proposed in the Parliament

As we all know that we don’t have any codified law on ‘honour killing.’ But alarmed by the rise of
honour killings, the Government is planning to bring a bill in the session of Parliament (2010) to
provide for deterrent punishment for ‘honour’ killings. Chidambaram asserted, “The vilest crimes are
committed in the name of defending the honour of the family or women. Whoever is the cause of the

15
crime, an individual or a collective, must be punished. My duty is to ensure that laws adopted by
Parliament are obeyed and enforced. Once the law is made, it must be enforced.”

So the drafters of the proposed bill intend to add a clause to Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code, 1862.
Section 300 deals with the crime of murder, the maximum punishment for which is death and/or a fine.
It also wants to amend the Indian Evidence Act and the Special Marriages Act, 1954, which would do
away with the provision for the mandatory 30 days notice period for marriages intended to be
solemnized under this Act. The amendment in Special Marriage Act, 1954 is necessary because the
present procedure of getting a marriage registered is a long process. The complete process takes about
45 days. During this period a couple may be vulnerable and incidence of killing in name of ‘honour’
may happen. So steps need to be taken to simplify the registration process by amendment. The new bill
is also expected to bring in a definition of such honour killings so that it will be treated as special crime
and will ensure clarity for the law enforcement agencies.

Law ought to be on Honour Killing

As we have seen that the government is going to amend the Indian Penal Code, 1862, for the honour
killing. But if we watch closely our Constitution and Indian Penal Code, 1862, we can see that they are
in itself sufficient to combat with the ‘honour killing’. As we already know that ‘honour killing’ are not
so different from the homicide; so we have already the following sections of Indian Penal Code, 1862,
to punish the perpetrators behind the honour killings. Those can be mentioned as follows:-

a. Sections 299-304: Penalizes any person guilty of murder and culpable homicide not amounting
to murder. The punishment for murder is life sentence or death and fine.
b. Section 307: Penalizes attempt to murder with imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine. If a
person is hurt, the penalty can extend to life imprisonment.
c. Section 308: Penalizes attempt to commit culpable homicide by imprisonment for upto 3 years
or with fine or with both.
d. Section 120A and B: Penalizes any person who is a party to a criminal conspiracy.
e. Sections 107-116: Penalizes persons for abetment of offences including murder and culpable
homicide.
f. Section 34 and 35: Penalizes criminal acts done by several persons in furtherance of common
intention.

Also along with that the perpetrators in ‘honour killing’ can be punished under the various articles of
Constitution of India. We can see that the “honour killings” are the violation of the following
constitutional provisions like articles 14, 15 (1) & (3), and 21 of the Constitution of India. Honour

16
killing violates the women right to live, right to move freely, right to equality and right to security.
Hence the ‘honour killings’ can also be combated with the constitutional provisions too.

But to make our law more strong on the issue of ‘honour killing’ an important amendment in the Section
300 of Indian Penal Code, 1862, must be done by adding a new definition of ‘Murder’ in the form of
‘Honour Killing’. This amendment will make it easier for the judges to classify the ‘honour killing’
cases and will ease them in deciding the matters according to the above mentioned sections and articles.
Making the crime of honour killing a separate offence would help bring more clarity for law
enforcement agencies.

Along with that the system of joint liability must be introduced in the case of ‘honour killing’. Normally
there are groups involved who firstly orders for killings in the name of ‘honour’ (for e.g. Khap
Panchayats) and secondly the execution of it is taken by other persons. So by introduction of the ‘joint
liability’ system both (i.e. person giving orders & executers) will be equally liable and this will be
efficient to reduce the ‘Honour killing’. Also we can seek some amendments in the sections of Indian
Evidence Act, 1872, by which the ‘burden of proof’ can be transferred over the family members over
whom the guilt of ‘Honour Killing’ had been bestowed on. By this amendment it will be quiet easier to
punish those who commit crime in the name of ‘honour’.

17
 JUDICIAL STANDING IN HONOUR KILLING
__________________________________________________________

The loose term "Honour killing" applies to killing of both males and females in cultures that practice
it.14 Women of family also help in Honour killings. Matriarchs may be motivated not by personal belief
in the misogynistic ideology of women as property, but by pragmatic calculations. Sometimes a mother
may support an Honour killing of an "offending" female family member in order to preserve the Honour
of other female family members, since many men in these societies will refuse to marry the sister of a
"shamed" female whom the family has not chosen to punish, thereby failing to "purify" the family name.
Men can also be the victims of Honour killings by members of the family of a woman with whom they
are perceived to have an inappropriate relationship15.

Though cases of Honour killings have been reported from all over India, but it is mainly prevalent in the
Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as a result of people marrying
without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion. In contrast,
Honour 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, Honour killings ceased about a century ago,
largely due to the activism and influence of reformists such as Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Vidyasagar
and Raja Ram Mohan Roy.16 Among Rajputs, marriages with members of other castes can provoke the
killing of the married couple and immediate family members. This form of Honour killing is attributed
to Rajput culture and traditional views on the perceived "purity" of a lineage.

The Indian State of Punjab is notorious for Honour killings. According to data compiled by the Punjab
Police, 34 Honour killings were reported in the state between 2008 and 2010: 10 in 2008, 20 in 2009,
and four in 201017. Haryana also is known for incidents of Honour killing. In June 2010 some incidents
were reported even from Delhi. In Haryana recently there has been many incidents of Honour killings
mainly due to blind verdicts of so called Khap Panchayats. The Supreme court has declared such Khap
Panchayats which often decree or encourage "Honour killings" Illegal and a Supreme court bench of

14
Teen Lovers killed in India Honor Killing,available at:.LiveLeak.com (Visited on May 11, 2013)
15
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/2010816171115397111.html(Visitedon June 11, 2012 )
16
"Honor Killings in India".Daily Life in India. The Tribune ,May 2, 2011 12Ibid
17
J. Venkatesan , "Khap panchayats, illegal: Supreme Court",The Hindu (Delhi),April 20, 2011
18
 Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra has further said that there is nothing
Honourable about Honour killings or other atrocities and, in fact, it is nothing but barbaric and shameful
murder.18 Supreme Court of India in 2018 held that “When two adults marry out of their volition, they
choose their path; they consummate their relationship; they feel that it is their goal and they have the
right to do so Any kind of torture or torment or ill-treatment in the name of honour that tantamount to
atrophy of choice of an individual relating to love and marriage by any assembly, whatsoever
nomenclature it assumes, is illegal and cannot be allowed a moment of existence The consent of the
family or the community or the clan is not necessary once the two adult individuals agree to enter into a
wedlock”, said the three judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM
Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud while holding that any attempt by Khap Panchayats or any other
assembly to scuttle or prevent two consenting adults from marrying is absolutely "illegal" "When two
adults consensually choose each other as life partners, it is a manifestation of their choice which is
recognized under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution".19

Despite India’s liberal and secular commitments, honour killing has remained a social reality. A report
by the National Crime Records Bureau records at least 288 cases of such violence in the period 2014-
2016. Against this background, the Supreme Court of India, passed a landmark judgment in Shakti
Vahini v. Union of India which treats honour based violence as not only a matter of criminal law, but
also as contrary to adults’ fundamental right to exercise choice as guaranteed under Article 21 and
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which protect the right to a dignified life and freedom of expression
respectively.
The judgment arose from a writ petition filed before the Supreme Court seeking directions to the state
and central governments to take preventive steps to combat honour crimes, to submit a National Plan of
Action and State Plan of Action, and further to direct the State Governments to set up refuges which can
be approached by targeted couples. The petition was filed as a result of a report published by the
petitioner under the aegis of National Commission for Women, which found that there has been a spate
of honour killings in states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and that honour crimes are on the
increase. The court in this case held that the consent of the family or the community or the clan is not
necessary once the two adult individuals agree to enter into a wedlock. Moreover, any communal body
that commits, or attempts to commit, any crime in the name of honour against such a couple will be held
liable under the Indian Penal Code. The court also laid down certain preventive, remedial and punitive
measures that must be implemented by the governments to safeguard the said right of the individuals.

The preventive measures suggested by the Supreme Court include identifying districts where such
crimes are prevalent and policing such areas more heavily, and also preventing any communal meeting

18
Indian village proud after double "honor killing".Reuters May 16, 2008
19
Honor killing in India,The Tribune,April 11, 2012
19
 set up to punish the vulnerable couple from taking place. Whenever any meeting has to take place for
any other reason, the police should attend and the proceedings should be video-recorded. The
sensitization of enforcement agencies and setting up of institutional machinery for coordination between
stakeholders were also suggested.

This judgment is part of the Supreme Court’s liberal jurisprudence which was also reflected in the recent
judgment of K.S. Puttaswami v. Union of India20 wherein individual privacy was recognised within the
larger scheme of privacy as a fundamental right, and in Shayara Bano v. Union of India 21 wherein the
practice of triple talaq was declared to be unconstitutional for it violated a Muslim woman’s right to
equal protection of Constitution regardless of her religion.

In the case of Shakti Vahini 22, the Supreme Court of India had given various guidelines to prevent
honour killing. These guidelines of the Court are as under:

1. There will be fast-track courts for fighting against honour killing cases.
2. The disposal of the cases can be expected within 6 months.
3. Immediate FIR against Khap Panchayat if they order any diktat against any couple.
4. There will be a provision of safe houses for the couples by the government, along with security,
if needed.
5. DM/SP will supervise the safe houses.
6. The safe houses will cater young bachelor-bachelorette couples along with married couples
whose relationship is being opposed by Khap.

Guidelines to prevent Khap incidents:

 All the governments should find out districts, villages where incidents of honour killing have
been reported in the past.
 The governments should also identify villages with the presence of Khap Panchayats in the last
five years.
 Advisories must be issued to the superintendents of police and the police departments by the
home department of the concerned states in order to be extra vigilant when an inter-caste
marriage under their jurisdiction occurs.
 If any harm is caused to the couple or their family members, the khap will be criminally liable.
 The police must inform Panchayats that holding Khap meetings is illegal.

20
(2017) 10 SCC 1
21
Writ Petition (C) No. 118 of 2016
22
Shakti Vahini vs Union of India. SC 2018
20
  To prevent meetings of Khap, police will invoke provisions of law, invoking prohibitory orders
under section 144 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure.
 Police can also arrest participants of Khap assembly under Section 151 CRPC, if needed.

SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

__________________________________________________________

To prevent such crimes from being committed firstly the mentality and social outlook of the people has
to be changed. There is no Honour involved in killing of innocent young people and actually who's
Honour is being talked about. When we say that mentality has to be changed, we mean to say that
parents should accept their children's wishes regarding marriage as it is they who have to lead a life with
their life partners and if they don’t have a good understanding then their life will be horrible that might
even end up in suicide. Moreover no human being has any right to write death sentence for a fellow
human being on such frivolous issues. The Court in Lata Singh case held that the caste system is a curse
on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when we
have to be united to face the challenges before the nation untidily. Hence, inter-case marriages are in
fact in the national interest, as they will result in destroying the caste system. However, disturbing news
keeps coming from several parts of the country that young men and women who undergo inter-caste
marriage, are threatened with violence, or violence is actually committed on them. In my opinion, such
acts of violence or threats or harassment are wholly illegal and those who commit them must be severely
punished. This is a free and democratic country, and once a person becomes a major he or she can marry
whosoever he/she likes. If the parents of the boy or girl do not approve of such inter-caste or inter
religious marriage the maximum they can do is that they can cut-off social relations with the son or the
daughter, but they cannot give threats or commit or instigate acts of violence and cannot harass the
person who undergoes such inter-casts or inter-religious marriage.

Therefore the administration/police authorities throughout the country should be directed to see to it that
if any boy or girl who is a major undergoes inter-caste or inter religious marriage with a woman or man
who is a major, the couple is not harassed by anyone nor subjected to threats or acts of violence, and
anyone who gives such threats or harasses or commits acts of violence either himself or at his
instigation, is taken to task by instituting criminal proceedings by the police against such persons and
further stem action is taken against such persons as provided by law. We sometimes hear of "honour"
killings of such persons who undergo inter-caste or inter-religious marriage of their own free will. There
is nothing honorable in such killings, and in fact they are nothing but barbaric and shameful acts of

21
 murder committed by brutal, feudal-minded persons who deserve harsh punishment. Only in this way
can we stamp out such acts of barbarism.23

Steps that might help prevent honor killing:

# First of all, we have to change the mentality of the people on this superstitious belief and have to let
them understand the definite sense of honor.
# Article 21 of the Indian constitution considers honor killing an infringement to law and hence there
must be some major amendments in IPC, Evidence Act and HMA so that strict laws can be enforced on
the offenders indulging in the offense.
# There is a need of functional unity of the government, international community, the NGOs and local
community on the issue.
# As a major step, women must be given a higher position of legal authority and must get authorized to
speak out on these issues.
#A Separate law should be passed against honor killings bringing strict penal provisions relating to
honour killing.
#Awareness should be created regarding the crime of honour killings and remedies which can be sought
by the victim against the oppressions of perpetrators. People must be educated of ways through which a
victim of such crime can express their grievances and of legal provisions they can resort to.
# The importance given to caste system should be relaxed.
#Khap panchayats having no legal recognition should be completely abolished and declared unlawful.
#Education is a key to prevent honour killings. With most uneducated people living in rural areas and
invariably hailing from economically and socially backward communities, women find themselves
marginalized and more prone to victim of honour killing.

We have so far discussed at length various aspects of laws related till present times over the issue of
‘honour killing’. Also we have seen the various ought to be rules and laws to strengthen our judiciary
over this most dishonorable practice. The laws mentioned in this study should be actively introduced in
the society by the means of formal governance and active policing. Normally in a country where there is
rule of law, the customary laws should not be given much value over the codified laws in matters of
such heinous crimes like ‘honour killing’. Hence the penal actions should be imposed seriously over the
perpetrator with the help of various provisions of Indian Penal Code, 1862, and Constitution of India.
These measures will definitely help to reduce the spate of honour killings.

Honour killing is done for saving the honour of the family. But there is no such honour in killing any
person. ‘Religion’ and ‘culture’ cannot and must not be invoked as excuse for the killing of women,

23 Lata Singh vs State of UP 2006

22
because religion and the laws that derive from it are always subjective interpretations. No ‘culture’ has
the right to kill and harm women based on their perceptions of morality or honour. The freedom of
belief does not mean freedom to kill. Everyone has right to life with full dignity and equality. Hence
active laws are the only antidotes to such dishonorable practice.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
__________________________________________________________

1. Dr. Pandey.J.N., Constitutional Law of India. Allahabad: Central Law Agency, 2015
2. Bhagwati, Rule of Law and Human Rights in India, Universal Law Publishing Co., 2011. 3. Puneet
Kaur Grewal, Honour Killings and Law in India, IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science,
Vol.5, Issue 6, 2012.
4. Anand Mishra, Honour Killings: The Law it is and the Law it Ought to be, Manupatra.
5. Puneet Kaur Grewal, Honour Killings and Law in India, IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social
Science, Vol.5, Issue 6, 2012.
6.Paras diwan and Payush Diwan, Human Rights and Law, Deep and Deep Publication
10. KC Joshi, International Law and Human Rights, Eastern Book company, 2006
11. Muruganathan. S, Honour Killing the menace- A case study in Tamil Nadu, International Journal of
Management Research and Social Science, Vol 1, Issue 1, 2014
12. Kavitha Kachhwaha, Khap Adjudication in India: Honouring the Culture with Crimes, International
Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, Vol.6, Issue 1&2, 2011
13. Editorials, Vote Bank Politics delaying a law against honour killing, Hindustan Times, 2016,
www.hindustantimes.com
14. Suraj Sharma, Honour Killing- A Customary Killing, International Journal of Advance Research,
Ideas and Innovation in Technology, Vol. 3, Issue 4, 2017
15. Sneha singh, Honour Killings in India: Need for composite and strict legal framework, International
Journal of Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies, Vol.4, Issue 3, 2017

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