A Socio Legal Study on Honour Killing as a Crime in India (Paper)
- Debanjali Singha Roy, South Calcutta Law College
- October 28, 2020
Content :
Indian society is a multicultural and pluralistic society where a lot of beliefs and faith regulate the human life of the citizens. In the patriarchal society, women are considered as the symbol of honour of the family. The concept is so deeply imbibed 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 actions taken by the families in the name of protecting their honour is known as Honour Killing. Though there are no specific laws, 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. This paper examines that the factors responsible for prevalence of Honour Killings in India, how the honour killing violates human rights as well as other international instruments and about the steps taken by Indian Government to curb the practise. The aim of the paper is to analyse whether there is a need to enact specific law or not with respect to honour killing.
