Honour killing’ — also called ‘shame killing’ — is the murder of an individual, mostly by the victim’s own family members, to protect the ‘’dignity’’ and ‘’honour’’ of the family when it involves inter-caste, inter-religious marriages or relationships. In most cases, the victim is a woman, although in several cases the man/boy is also targeted. The victims in some cases are also those belonging to the queer (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) community.
Although honour killing cases are more prevalent in a few North Indian states, like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Punjab, it is being increasingly reported in the South too, including Karnataka. As per the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of honour killings reported in India was 25 each in 2019 and 2020, and 33 in 2021. But these figures are based on those reported, and the number could be much higher than mentioned.
Honour killings have been rampant in Karnataka, including Mandya, Kolar, Tumakuru and parts of North Karnataka. From October 2022 until now, at least seven horrendous cases have been reported in the state. Senior advocate KBK Swamy says honour killing in Karnataka is not new: it goes back to the 12th century, to the time of social reformer Basavanna, when inter-caste marriages or relationships invited a punishment called ‘Yele Hoote’, which involved tying those engaging in inter-caste relationships (mostly women marrying men from castes ‘lower’ than their own) to an elephant’s leg and making the elephant roam around town, killing the hapless victims.
Retired IPS officer and former DG&IGP of Karnataka Police ST Ramesh says there is no legal terminology called “honour killing”, and the reason why many cases go unreported is this: “In so-called honour killing cases, usually a family member would have committed the crime. Other family members who might not have indulged directly in the crime will try to cover up, despite knowing about the crime. Their thinking is mentally in sync with the accused. Such cases may not come out in the open immediately, but there is nothing called a perfect crime. Sooner or later, it comes out,” he says.
According to police officials who have investigated these crimes, in most cases the perpetrators do not exhibit any sense of guilt, instead, there is a degree of pride in committing honour killings. They feel they have done something credible to protect the honour and prestige of their caste, clan or religion – which could explain why such crimes receive support from other members of the group closely linked to the perpetrators.
Chala Venkata Reddy, a social activist from Ballari, says even educated parents and family members commit this crime to protect the honour and prestige of the clan, sub-caste, caste or religion they belong to.
WHAT POWERS HONOUR KILLINGS?
Honour killings – clearly, the continuing shame of India despite the country’s major advances in several domains – are powered by the status and pride among individuals over the castes, sub-castes and religions they belong to. Utmost importance is given to the ‘purity’ of the family and that of ‘sense of belonging’ to a particular social segment has led to the most abhorrent outcome of patriarchy in the form of ‘honour killings’.
According to Legal Service India e-journal, it is done to “eradicate the dishonour and shame brought by family members” – especially a woman – by marrying or seeking a life partner belonging to a “lower caste”, which they feel does not “match” their social status. It is based on a fear of being ‘out-casted’ if such relationships are allowed, and there have been several cases where families have been humiliated for allowing a girl to marry outside, especially someone from a “lower caste”. Honour killing is nothing but a ‘‘planned murder’’ to safeguard the honour and prestige of a family to prevent it from “falling in the eyes” of members of the social segment they belong to.
The shame of honour killing is sourced to the existing complex socio-cultural divisions in society. In many cases, even those marrying within the same ‘Gotra’ are targeted, as communities believe it to be an incestuous marriage. Dr. Sabitha Gundmi, assistant professor, Department of Sociology, Mangalore University, who hails from the Koraga community says, “It is a matter of shame for upper caste families, and children born to such inter-caste couples have no identity. They are referred to with demeaning names like ‘chandalas’. We need to bring awareness.”
A senior psychiatrist in Bengaluru, who requested anonymity, says: “The perpetrators of honour killing view the killing of the ‘errant member’ as a way to restore the reputation and honour of the family. They do not think about repercussions. The perpetrator may be the same person who may have publicly criticised a similar act by a member of another family in his clan/community and has no second thoughts about killing his own family member to uphold the ‘honour’ of his clan or community. Although there is no rationale behind such contorted thinking, it is indoctrination that leads people to kill their own in the name of ‘family honour’.”
NO LAW TO DEAL WITH ‘HONOUR KILLING’
While honour killings receive clandestine support and licence from certain ‘respected’ quarters within the social group to which the perpetrators belong, there is no law to specifically deal with honour killing. The crime is dealt with as ‘murder’. Unfortunately, the law sees ‘honour killing’ as murder, not a larger conspiracy that ends up killing the innocent with a certain degree of social backing.
For instance, in Haryana, such crimes have the blessings of bodies like the Khap Panchayats, which provide extra-constitutional blessings for ‘honour killings’. They ignore Articles 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution, dealing with the right to equality and not allowing discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, gender or place of birth, respectively. The Constitution’s Article 19 provides the right to freedom, while Article 21 grants the right to life, which honour killings directly violate with the blessings of family elders. It also violates the rights of individuals to choose a life partner, irrespective of which caste or religion he or she belongs to.
The lack of a law specifically dealing with ‘honour killings’ allows these crimes to be tried under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with ‘murder’ -- 299-304 (murder and culpable homicide), 107-11 (abetting murder) and 120A and 120B (criminal conspiracy). The result is that the shame of ‘honour killings’ continues unabated, even as it fosters pride among the killers for “protecting the honour” of the family, caste or community they have affinity to.
The Supreme Court in 2006 observed: “We sometimes hear of ‘honour’ killings of such persons who undergo inter-caste or inter-religious marriages of their own free will. There is nothing honourable in such killings, and in fact, they are nothing but barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal-minded persons who deserve harsh punishment. Only in this way can we stamp out such acts of barbarism.”
It noted: “In our opinion, such acts of violence of 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 cut off social relations with the son or daughter, but they cannot harass the person who undergoes such inter-caste or inter-religious marriage.”
(With inputs from Bala Chauhan/Bengaluru; BK Lakshmikantha/Mysuru; Ramkrishna Badseshi/ Kalaburagi; Kiran Balannanavar/ Ballari; V Velayudham/ Kolar; Divya Cutinho/ Mangaluru; Hirehalli Devaraja/Tumakuru)