{"id":51492,"date":"2025-08-18T19:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T14:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=51492"},"modified":"2025-08-18T20:31:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:01:06","slug":"how-honour-killings-are-legitimised-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-08-2025\/how-honour-killings-are-legitimised-india","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Honour\u2019 Killings in India are Reinforced and Legitimised?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS1\/ Indian Society<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In India, caste remains a deeply rooted social structure, and \u2018honour\u2019 killings are emerging as a violent yet socially legitimised tool to preserve caste hierarchies, especially against inter-caste unions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About Honour Killings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Definition: <\/strong>Honour killings refer to the murder of individuals (mostly young couples) by family or community members for allegedly bringing \u201cdishonour\u201d through relationships that <strong>defy caste, community, or gender norms.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geographical Pattern:<\/strong> States like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Kerala,\u00a0 where Dalit empowerment through education and jobs is higher, record both<strong> higher rates of inter-caste marriages <\/strong>and <strong>higher cases of honour killings.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Paradox: <\/strong>Violence is most visible where caste hierarchies are being challenged, not where they remain unchallenged.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to <strong>NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau)<\/strong> data, India recorded 25 cases of honor killings in both 2019 and 2020, with a rise to 33 cases in 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons of Honour Killings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Caste endogamy:<\/strong> Families act as gatekeepers of caste boundaries and women\u2019s choice is policed to preserve lineage, land, and status.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Khap\/community sanctions: <\/strong>Informal councils\/kin networks encourage or legitimise violence or social boycotts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fear of Exclusion:<\/strong> Families who don&#8217;t conform to traditional marriage norms face pressure and fear of being ostracized by their communities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Anonymity in social media<\/strong>: Social media glorify caste pride and vigilante narratives, normalising punishment for defiance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are the Impacts?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Constitutional rights:<\/strong> It violates Articles 14, 15, 19, 21 of Indian Constitution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gendered violence:<\/strong> Disproportionately targets women asserting choice; also affects men from stigmatised castes\/communities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Erosion of rule of law:<\/strong> When communities take law into their own hands, it weakens the state\u2019s authority to use force legally and also scares the police and witnesses from doing their duty.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social fragmentation: <\/strong>It<strong> <\/strong>stokes caste\/religious polarisation, discourages inter-group mobility and integration\u2014hurting social capital and inclusive growth.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Measures taken against Honour\u2019 Killings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>There is no standalone central law<\/strong> on honour crimes yet; cases are prosecuted as murder\/attempt etc. under <strong>Indian Penal Code<\/strong> (now replaced by BNS) and allied laws, along with\u00a0 <strong>SC\/ST Atrocities Act<\/strong> where applicable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Law Commission (Report 242, in 2012)<\/strong> recommended a specific law to curb unlawful assemblies (Khap interference) in matrimonial choice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Rajasthan government in 2019 <\/strong>enacted a special law prohibiting interference with matrimonial alliances in the name of honour\/tradition\u2014notable for criminalising collective\/community pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f7f3ef\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"780\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-\u2018Honour-Killings-in-India-are-Reinforced-and-Legitimised-1024x780.png\" alt=\"How \u2018Honour\u2019 Killings in India are Reinforced and Legitimised?\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-51493\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f7f3ef; width:462px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-\u2018Honour-Killings-in-India-are-Reinforced-and-Legitimised-1024x780.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-\u2018Honour-Killings-in-India-are-Reinforced-and-Legitimised-300x228.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-\u2018Honour-Killings-in-India-are-Reinforced-and-Legitimised-768x585.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-\u2018Honour-Killings-in-India-are-Reinforced-and-Legitimised.png 1513w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dedicated Legislation:<\/strong> Enact a central law criminalising honour crimes and unlawful community interference, building on Law Commission recommendations and Rajasthan\u2019s example.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data &amp; Monitoring:<\/strong> Improve NCRB classification to capture all forms of honour crimes (murder, attempt, abetment, threats) with real-time reporting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protection &amp; Rehabilitation: <\/strong>Establish district-level safe shelters, legal aid, counselling, and financial support for inter-caste and inter-faith couples.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SOURCE: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/how-honour-killings-in-india-are-reinforced-and-legitimised\/article69943781.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">In India, caste remains a deeply rooted social structure, and \u2018honour\u2019 killings are emerging as a violent yet socially legitimised tool to preserve caste hierarchies, especially against inter-caste unions.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>About Honour Killings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Definition: Honour killings refer to the murder of individuals (mostly young couples) by family or community members for allegedly bringing \u201cdishonour\u201d through relationships that defy caste, community, or gender norms.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Geographical Pattern: States like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Kerala,\u00a0 where Dalit empowerment through education and jobs is higher, record both higher rates of inter-caste marriages and higher cases of honour killings.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Paradox: Violence is most visible where caste hierarchies are being challenged, not where they remain unchallenged.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">According to NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data, India recorded 25 cases of honor killings in both 2019 and 2020, with a rise to 33 cases in 2021.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-08-2025\/how-honour-killings-are-legitimised-india\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":51551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/how-honour-killings-are-legitimised-india.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51523,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51492\/revisions\/51523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}