Whose honour is it, anyway?

Like the case of Sati and dowry where there are specific laws with maximum and minimum terms of punishment, honour killings, too, merit a second look under the law.

To be young and in love has proved fatal for many in parts of north India as an intolerant and bigoted society refuses to accept any violation of its rigid code of decorum, especially when it comes to women. The two teenage girls who were shot dead last week by a cousin in Noida for daring to run away to meet their boyfriends are the latest victims of honour killings, a euphemism for doing away with anyone seen as besmirching the family’s reputation. Many such killings, and they happen with regularity in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are socially sanctioned by caste panchayats and carried out by mobs. The usual remedy to such murders, for that is what they are, is to suggest that society must be prevailed upon to be more gender-sensitive and shed prejudices of caste and class.

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As we have seen, this is easier said than done. It is no one’s case that efforts should not be made to sensitise people on the need to do away with social biases. But equally, it should be made clear that there is no escape for those who take justice into their own hands. So far, there is no specific law to deal with honour killings. The murders come under the general categories of homicide or manslaughter. When a mob has carried out such attacks, it becomes difficult to pinpoint a culprit. The collection of evidence becomes tricky and eyewitnesses are never forthcoming.

Like the case of Sati and dowry where there are specific laws with maximum and minimum terms of punishment, honour killings, too, merit a second look under the law. In many cases, the victims who run away with ‘unsuitable’ partners are lured back home after FIRs are filed by their families.