HONOUR KILLING & VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Research Presentation

By Riddhi Aiya
What is Honour Killing?

• Honor killing is a practice whereby male members kill a female relative who is
perceived as having damaged family honor. Her death restores the honor of the
family.
• While killing in the name of ‘Honour’ is the most discussed aspect of the
phenomenon, this is only one aspect of a nexus of control over women’s lives.
• Honour Killings are one of the cruelest forms of Honour Base Violence against
women.
• Murders committed in the name of Honour may be concealed through the
combined power of family and community working in concert, providing alibis for
one another and representing a murder as accidental death or suicide.
Violation of Human Rights

• There is now a near-universal consensus that all individuals are entitled to certain basic
rights under any circumstances.
• These include certain civil liberties and political rights, the most fundamental of which is
the right to life and physical safety.
• To protect human rights is to ensure that people receive some degree of decent, humane
treatment.
• To violate the most basic human rights, on the other hand, is to deny individuals their
fundamental moral entitlements.
• It is, in a sense, to treat them as if they are less than human and undeserving of respect
and dignity.
• Examples are acts typically deemed "crimes against humanity," including genocide,
torture, slavery, rape, enforced sterilization or medical experimentation, and deliberate
starvation
• Honour Based Violence
• Honor Based Violence (HBV) is a term used to describe
violence committed within the context of the extended family
which is motivated by a perceived need to restore standing within
the community, which is presumed to have been lost through the
the behavior of the victim.
• Women and girls may lose honor through expressions of
autonomy, particularly if this autonomy occurs within the
area of sexuality.
• Men may be targeted either by the family of a woman who they
believed to have ‘dishonored’, in which case both the parties may
be at risk, or by their own family if they are believed to be homosexual.
Common triggers for HBV include:
 Refusing an arranged marriage
 Having a relationship outside the approved group
 Loss of virginity
 Pregnancy
 Spending time without the supervision of a family member
 Reporting domestic violence
 Attempting to divorce
 Pushing for custody of children after divorce
 Refusing to divorce when ordered to do so by family members
The concept of Honor Killing
• Human Rights Watch defines “honour killings” as the acts of violence, usually
murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who
are held to have brought dishonour upon the family.
• According to Oxford Dictionaries:
• 
• “The killing of a relative, especially a girl or woman, who is perceived to have
brought dishonor on the family”
Laws Violated
• The Indian Penal Code Sec 300 MURDER
• Constitution of India Article 14- Right to equality
• Article 15 (1) Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth.
• Article 15 (3) Making special provisions for women and children.
• Article 19 Rights regarding freedom of speech etc.
• Article 21 Protection of life and personal Liberty.
• The Indian majority Act, 1857 sec 3 of the Indian Majority Act, 1857 every person domiciled in India shall attain the age of
majority on completion of 18 years, unless his or her personal law specifies otherwise However, in the case of guardian appointed
to such minor, age of majority will be 21 and not 18years The Act becomes relevant in cases where the khap panchayats have
forcefully separated married couples.
• The special marriage Act, 1954
• The protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005
• Indian evidence Act, 1872 provides punishment for those who are involved in concealment of facts, either before or at the time
of, or after the alleged crime. sec 13
Difference between Murder and Honour
Killing
• Homicides are no doubt grave crimes but society may or may not be affected by the same at large, but
Honour killing is a heinous crime and a greater evil that affects the society at large. In other words,
homicides may affect public interest whereas the offence of Honour killing shakes the Public conscience.
• In the case of homicides, there are several exceptions which are mentioned in IPC but in the case of
Honour killing, it is pre-planned, brutally executed more often than not within blood relations
Some Recent Cases

• Manoj and Bali Case

• Manoj and Babli, from Karora village in the Kaithal district, were brutally murdered by Babli's relatives. The
cruel act was carried out on the orders of a khap panchayat, for marrying in the same gotra. Two decomposed
bodies were found from the Barwala branch canal in Hissar. Further investigations led to shocking details.
According to reports, the couple was asked to accept each other as brother and sister. They refused and then
were forcefully fed pesticides. They were then strangled to death, and the bodies were thrown in the canal.
• Bhavna Yadav’s death
A 21-year-old Delhi University student Bhavna Yadav was strangled to death by her parents, just three days
after her marriage, because she tied the knot against her parents’ wishes. Bhavna was allegedly killed by her
father Jagmohan Yadav and mother Savitri Yadav at her house in southwest Delhi's Dwarka North. According to
reports, after killing their daughter, the parents took the body to Alwar in Rajasthan and set it on fire. Bhavna
had married 24-year-old Abhishekh Seth against the wishes of her family members
People need to change
their mindsets. And
Understand there is no
honour in Killing.

Thank You
The End