WUNRN
INDIA - HIGH COURT URGES END TO
PRACTICE OF HONOR KILLING
Sarah Posner - April 20,
2011
[JURIST] The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday urged an end
(Judgment: http://jurist.org/paperchase/Servai_v_Tamil_Nadu.pdf) to
the practice of "honor killing" calling the customary ritual
"wholly illegal." The court said that officials who are aware of the
practice before or after it occurs and do not report it will face criminal
charges. Officials who fail to report perpetrators of the practice will be held
directly or indirectly responsible for the crime. Additionally, criminal
proceedings will be initiated against individuals who participate in honor
killing. The case involved an altercation between two individuals regarding the
proper method of tying bullocks. After a verbal insult was directed towards him
by the victim, the accused assaulted the victim with sticks causing a fracture
on his head. The two parties belong to different castes in India. The court
stated:
There is nothing honourable in honour killing or other
atrocities and, in fact, it is nothing but barbaric and shameful murder. Other
atrocities in respect of personal lives of people committed by brutal, feudal
minded persons deserve harsh punishment. Only in this way can we stamp out such
acts of barbarism and feudal mentality. Moreover, these acts take the law into
their own hands, and amount to kangaroo courts, which are wholly illegal.
The practice of parents killing their children is more
common when the person enters into a relationship with a member of a different
caste or religion.
Last June, the Supreme Court of India
ordered the central government and seven state governments to explain
the steps they have taken to reduce honor killings [JURIST report]. The
order came in response to a petition filed by Shakti Vahini [advocacy
website], a non-governmental human rights organization seeking the
implementation of stricter laws against the perpetrators of honor killings.