HONOR KILLINGS -not so honorable!

For ages the Indian society has been embroiled down by many social evils and many of them were pertaining to woman. Women have always been on the target ranging from female infanticide, dowry, domestic violence, prostitution, rape  etc. although with changing times people have been educated and changed their perception and these practices have been reduced in some places but till date there are certain social evils  prevalent in not only our country but many other countries , one such act is of HONOR KILLING.

According to a survey there are more than 300 cases of honor killing in last 3 years in India. It is one of the most tenacious forms of gender violence – and also the least acknowledged.

In India, women are not considered individual entity  with lives and choices of their own. Instead, they are seen as the torchbearers of family ‘honor’. The “honor (ijjat)” of a family,society or the community is so called the ‘purity’ of women. Hence, instead of being considered as independent individuals with their own choices, women’s lives are controlled by an honor code.

Human Rights Watch defines “honor killings” as, Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male members of family against females of the family who are seemed to have brought dishonor upon the family. The mere perception that a woman has acted in a manner to bring “dishonor” to the family is enough to trigger an attack. Sometimes men can also be the victims of honor killings by members of the family of a woman with whom they are considered to have an inappropriate relationship, or by partaking in homosexual activities.

Honor killings are often a result of strongly misogynistic views towards women, and also  the position of women in society. In these traditionally patriarchal  societies women are dependent first on their father and then on their husband, whom they are expected to obey. Women are contemplated  as property and not as individuals with their own agency. Violence is seen as a way of ensuring compliance and to avert the rebellion.

The concept of ownership has turned women into a commodity that can be exchanged, bought and sold”.In such cultures, women are restricted to take control over their bodies and sexuality: these are the properties of the males of the family, the father (and other male relatives) who must ensure virginity until marriage; and then the husband to whom his wife’s sexuality is subordinated—a woman must not sabotage the ownership rights of her guardian by engaging in premarital sex or adultery.

The occurrences of honor killings are extremely  difficult to determine and estimates vary widely. In most countries data on honor killings isn’t collected systematically, and most of those killings are reported by the families as suicides or accidents.  Murder is not the only form of honor crime, other crimes such as acid attacks, abduction, mutilations, and domestic violence occur too.  The cultures in which honor killings take place are usually considered “collectivist cultures”, where the family’s pride is more important than the individuals life.

LETS TAKE FEW RECENT EXAMPLES OF THESE HIDEOUS KILLINGS IN INDIA

Couple killed in Tamil Nadu

25-year-old Nandhish from the Dalit community fell in love with Swathi, an upper caste woman. The couple got married and lived together for a few months before they were both murdered by the couple’s father. Swathi’s father has confessed to murdering them and throwing the bodies into a river in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district.

Honour killing caught on CCTV

Amrutha, who belongs to a wealthy upper caste family, fell in love with Pranay from the Dalit community and the couple got married. In September 2018, while returning after a medical check-up, Pranay was hacked to death in broad daylight in front of his pregnant wife. The gruesome murder that shook south India was caught on CCTV. Amrutha’s father confessed to have plotted the murder as he did not approve of Pranay’s caste and lack of wealth.

Minor killed allegedly by father 

In Chandigarh, a 16-year-old girl was found dead in mysterious circumstances in October. Why ??? only because The girl was reported to be in love with a 19-year-old from her village. The girl’s parents had earlier filed a rape case against him.

And recently on 6 may 2020 in Hisar, a woman died at a village near Uklana town of Hisar district on Monday. Her live in partner alleged an honour killing. The Village sarpanch said she died of electric shocks sustained while ironing clothes, in his police complaint, The man had an affair with the deceased for last 3years and said that her family was against their marriage.

Although honor killings are often linked with the Asian continent, especially the middle east  and South Asia. In 2000, the United Nations estimated that 5,000 women were victims of honor killings each year . The existence of ‘honor killings’ all over the world puts universal human rights under severe threat . It puts the agency of “individualism” and “choice” against the notion of collective social agency and strict norms. The right to marry comes under “right to life” enshrined by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. However, In India, the concept of free will in exercising the right to marry is considered more as a duty or social in nature, rather than an individual choice or opinion.

The term “honor” crime is somewhat misleading because it implicit that such crimes are “honorable”. These acts of violence, attack something more than women’s bodies: they additionally strike their challenge to oppressive patriarchy. By adding the word “honor” to killing, we use the language of those who rationalize  this loathsome crime on the basis of “honorable” motives. We use the language of their excuse. We must stop doing this. The term “honor killing” not only gives too much power to the culprit, but is offensive to survivors and women. Instead, we need to see the crime through the eyes of those assaulted.

It is true that these culprits invariably invoke their slighted “honor”. But there is a further common feature: this violence seeks to punish women for seeking to exercise independent choice, and to flout not only the wishes of their families and societal  expectation – for daring to be free. That’s the heart of the matter, and that’s the right lens to view the problem through.