HOW TO END HONOR KILLINGS

Out of TIMES OF INDIA



We don’t need to change the law, just enforce it




Despite the progress the country has made since independence the killing of family or clan members – because they have violated some archaic code of honour – takes place in India even today. Home minister P Chidambaram is right to call it a national shame. But the reason such killings continue to happen is the tolerant attitude that law enforcement often has towards them, especially in rural areas. This needs to change, and change fast.
Some have called for new legislation to deal with honour killings. This would be superfluous. It’s enough if they are treated as murder, and investigated and prosecuted accordingly. The perpetrators of the crime should be charged and tried under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code that deal with homicide. What we need to combat honour killings is strict enforcement of current laws while conducting an ongoing campaign to sensitise people and change mindsets.
A couple can still get lynched for committing the crime of marrying in the same gotra, as happened recently in Haryana. Khap (caste) panchayats pronounce judgement on a couple seen to go against established community customs and the rest of the village upholds the strictures using whatever means necessary. To them, it is right and necessary to act to punish whoever dares to break away from social norms. In many of these cases, local law enforcement agencies are loathe to disrupt the social balance by enforcing the law of the land. Therefore, they turn a blind eye to the illegal activities condoned by village elders. This is a vicious circle. If the law turns away complainants but sides instead with those who break the law, that itself reinforces archaic social norms which ought to have withered away.
The home minister must ensure that the perpetrators of these hateful murders are taken to task. The khap panchayats that pass these orders must be treated as accessories to the crime. Each such incident should carry a heavy price for the police and the local government in charge, so as to compel them to take timely action. Strict and harsh punishment would go a long way in deterring such crimes in the future. We can’t call ourselves a free society till we end honour killings. It’s only when the individual knows that he or she has the protection of the law that we can all be proud citizens of India.

Some recent examples of honor killing and how it works:
Patiala (Punjab): Even as a 21-year-old man was lynched by the girl's family in neighbouring Haryana in a case of honour killing on Wednesday, a similar incident of honour killing in Punjab went wrong when the mother of a youth was killed as she tried to save her son from his angry father-in-law.
Retired armyman Gurdeep Singh shot dead Manjit Kaur, mother of Balihar Singh in Brahmpura village of Patiala district late on Wednesday night, police officials said here today.
Balihar had married Gurdeep Singh's daughter Kamaljit Kaur a few weeks back against the wishes of her family. Both had got married at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh, 100 km away, and had feared for their lives.
The armyman arrived at the house of Manjit Kaur on being told by relatives that his son-in-law and daughter had come there to meet her. He was carrying a .12-bore gun when he arrived.
As he aimed the gun in a fit of anger at Balihar, his mother Manjit Kaur tried to intervene to protect her son. Two shots were fired by Gurdeep Singh and the woman died on the spot even as her son fled the house to save himself.
Villagers later caught Gurdeep Singh and handed him over to the police.
The armyman was angry that his daughter married a man who was lower in social status and also belonged to the same village.
In some Punjab villages, marriages are not allowed within the village as boys and girls are considered brothers and sisters.
"We had sought police protection several times and had written to the police in this regard. But no action was taken. This unfortunate incident could have been avoided," Balihar Singh said.
Local police officials said that the accused had been arrested and the matter was being investigated. (IANS)

Chandigarh, June 15 (IANS) A young couple was hacked to death by the girl’s brother at their home in a village near Banur town in Punjab. The cold-blooded murder Saturday night was committed by Sarabjit Singh to avenge the honour of his family as his sister had married against the family’s wishes to the boy from an upper caste.
While the boy, Suresh Kumar, died on the spot, his wife Sunwinder succumbed to her injuries at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here.


Sarabjit attacked the couple with an axe while they were sleeping. He was arrested.
The couple were married February this year in the Punjab and Haryana High Court here. The girl’s family, which is from the Dalit community, was against her marriage to the upper caste boy of the same village, Gajju Khera, 25 km from here.
The girl’s family has been absconding after the kilings, police officials said. They added that teams have been dispatched to various places to trace the family.
Tarn Taran (Punjab): They paid for their love with their lives. Newly-married couple Balkar Singh and Ravindar Pal Kaur were shot dead at their village in Taran Taran, allegedly by members of the girls family.
Balkar was gunned down in the market and Ravindar was killed inside their house.
Says Balkar Singh’s mother, “After the marriage, the couple had come to the house for the first time. Balkar had gone to buy eatables in the nearby market for his relatives who were coming from England. A group of armed persons alighted from three cars and chased him”.
The two got married on January 1 and on the same day Ravindar filed a writ in the Punjab and Haryana High Court saying she feared threat to their lives from her family.
They were killed the day the police received the order from the court to give them protection
Says Tarn Taran SSP H.S Chahal, “Her father, brother and some other relatives armed with firearms killed the newly weds couple”.
Police say all the accused -- Ravindar's parents, her brother and her cousins are now absconding.


Now, the Merciful Lord has issued His Command.
Let no one chase after and attack anyone else.
Let all abide in peace, under this Benevolent Rule