Honour Killing: The Cruelty of Society and Casteism

Honour Killing, a practice where an individual is killed by the family members or any other relative as a reason for getting them married in another caste or religion. It is a very common practice in Indian society. Although it is not backed by law yet, it is prevalent in current Indian society. It is considered a sin to marry in another caste or religion in the Indian Society.

Roots of Honour Killing lie in the Caste System. There is still class discrimination in India but nobody accepts it as a truth. This is the outcome of our rigid Caste System. Families consider it to have brought shame to their family name. Marriage or Love Marriage, especially between individuals of different caste and religion is not allowed in India. In India, only Marriage between the same caste is allowed.

Acceptance of Love or Inter-caste or Inter-Religion Marriage

Though in the last decade trends have changed and love marriage is accepted by some people of the society. However, the orthodox and conservative Indian families still don’t believe in Inter caste or Inter religion marriage which ultimately results in Honour Killing. India, a country where we are talking about Fundamental Rights and equality, an individual is not even allowed to marry by his own choice. This is a result of a clash of society with current law. Until and unless we change our thinking and the change in the mind of people of the society, this problem can not be solved.

Law In India regarding Honour Killing

Presently, there is no specific law dealing with Honour killing. Any act committed will be covered under the provisions of Indian Penal Code. Though some of these marriages may not be regulated by the personal laws of the community but are regulated by the Special Marriage Act, 1954. In various cases, the Courts have directed the police to provide security to such couple who are not supported by their respective families or those who are under threat of being killed because of Honour Killing.

Reasons for Honour Killing

What may be the reasons that someone can kill their own child for the sake of reputation and honor of dreams? There are a lot of things that can result in such a brutal practice. Orthodox and conservative morals, social pressure, lack of education, backward thinking etc. There can be a number of reasons for this but a major reason is the problem of Societal Pressure.

We have a society where importance is given to the response of society to an act than self-happiness of our people. That is why more importance is given to society in which they are supposed to live. Whether society accepts certain things or not, it is society, who will decide everything for certain people.

– Adv. Devyani Bhati

Content Writer @ Legal Bites