Couple found hanging from
the tree under mysterious circumstances, pregnant woman beaten to death by her
family members for marrying the man of her choice, a young married woman
strangled to death by her parents for marrying a man outside her caste, two
young girls shot dead by their father for having boyfriends etc. As subtle as
the name sounds, the very character of ‘Honor Killing’ is much daunting and horrendous.
This treacherous act is conducted by the very people who are termed as
‘Parents’ and blood relatives for protecting the ‘Honor’ of their so called
‘Caste’.
The word caste is a very
strong word, which plays a very important role in India and many South Asian
countries. Right from birth to death, the major decisions in life are
influenced by caste.
One of the many honor killing cases that sent shock
waves throughout the entire country was the gruesome murder of Manoj and Babli
in 2007. After eloping, least they would have thought that their love story
would end so tragically. Forcefully fed with pesticides and their bodies being
thrown into a canal, no one came to their rescue not even the law. For what
were they killed? Well, the answer to this question is because the law making
and controlling body in Haryana i.e., the Khap Panchayat thought Manoj and
Babli who were from the same clan were considered to be brother and sister and
marrying within the same clan is a sin. Whereas, Bhavna Yadav who hailed from a
Rajasthani family was strangled to death by her parents for marrying Abhishek
Seth, a Punjabi. In another case of honor killing a 22 year old girl was shot
dead by her brother in Muzaffarnagar for being in a relationship with a boy.
And so are many young and ambitious men and women killed in the name of
protecting the honor of their caste. I would not like to go into the depth of
these cases as it is well known to all. Why were they murdered? For falling in
love with a girl/boy from another caste? Or for marrying against the wishes of
their family and community? Whatever the reason may be the fact remains the
same that ‘Lives’ are lost.
People are so blinded by their caste and community
that they could not understand the feelings of their loved ones. We are born into
this world as pure as water and as free as a bird without the burden of caste. But
as we grow old, the beliefs of caste and community overshadows us and makes our lives tough to
live.
According to statistics from the United
Nations, one in five cases of honor killing internationally every year comes
from India. Of the 5000 cases reported internationally,
1000 are from India. Non-governmental organizations put the number at four
times this figure. This is clear enough to show that we are still very backward
in our thoughts and beliefs.
The law in our country is not strong enough to protect
the young lives from these false beliefs. Although police protection was given
to Manoj and Babli, least could they do to protect them. They could just stand
there and watch the proceedings from the crowd, whereas the members of the Khap
Panchayat were having full control of the situation. The law has failed here
from every possible angle. The National Human Rights Commission set up a
statutory body to address honor killing in 1990. Alarmed by the rise of honor killings, the
Government planned to bring a bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament July
2010 to provide for deterrent
punishment for 'honor' killings. Many more laws are framed and organizations
formed to fight against honor killing. Then why are the honor killing cases on
the rise? In my opinion there is no stable and powerful body to implement such
laws.
People
should be educated about the importance of life. Even though it is not possible
to abolish the caste system, awareness has to be created that beliefs are only
meant to be followed in a right way and not in a blind way. This approach has
to be accompanied by an uncompromising and powerful law system. It has to be
stringent enough so that people realize that they have actually committed an
intolerable crime. Most importantly we all should remember that we belong to
one and the same race called ‘Humanity’.
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