“Honour Killing: A Legal Analysis”

Abstract

The quotes are proved by unjust and inhumane action of killing in the name of false pride. Honour killings or crime against humanity has risen to prominence in recent years and is a global phenomenon.

The punishments for cases obviously vary from society to society as per the nature and extent of the defiance and dishonour. Honour killing is the result of  socio-psychological milieu of cynical societies where some acts of the behavior of human beings especially of the females are recognized as making dishonour to their families and communities and the lost honour is recovered by killings them. Honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members due to the perception of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or community. The pseudo dishonour is generally the result of the unaccepted behaviors or the suspicion of such behaviors like desiring to terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or inter-caste marriage, inter-religion marriage, ‘sagotra’ marriage, desiring to marry by own choice or against the wishes of their family especially if to the member of a society deemed inappropriate, engaging in hetero-sexual acts outside marriage, adultery and engaging in homosexual acts etc. It is the menacing phenomena of repressive social practices in the name of honor triggering violent reaction from the influential members of community who are blind to individual autonomy. The ‘honour killings’ or ‘honour crimes’ are not peculiar to our country. It is an evil which haunts many other societies also and a global problem.

Honour killings, for whatever reason needs immediate attention. Law needs to be used as a weapon to curb social evil. What is needed is a firm decision by the government for a separate law. There is paucity of research studies in this area. The networking of the police, judiciary, government, NGOs, human rights activists, sociologists, social workers, and psychologists is to be done in order to mitigate this social evil. Honour killing cannot be accepted in the name of culture or tradition. Honour killing is unjust and inhumane action. It is crime against mankind. The paper analyses the menace of honour killing, causes and legal framework.